ILA x ARC x ASO: Vanishing Point
On Tuesday 25 March, The Light Room Studio at ILA (Immersive Light and Art) was transformed into a digital way-station for Vanishing Point – an immersive concert where orchestral music, experimental performance, and cutting-edge visuals converged to explore the tipping points shaping our world.
Associate Professor Luke Harrald's eponymous work Vanishing Point received its world premiere, with visuals entitled 'The Fragility of the Whale' by computer scientist Nickolas Faulkner. Also on the program were Finnish composer Lotta Wennäkoski's Nosztalgiaim (2007), performed with visuals entitled 'The Intensity of Light' by Luke Harrald; and Adelaide-based composer Georgina Bowden's Flex (2022).
The concert featured cellist David Moran performing remotely from The University of Adelaide via bi-directional audio and visual streaming with an ensemble of live musicians from the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, including Cameron Hill and Lachlan Bramble (violins); David Wicks (viola) Gemma Phillips (cello); Gustavo Quintino (bass); Julia Grenfell (flute); Peter Duggan (oboe); Mitchell Berick (clarinet); Mark Gaydon (bassoon); Adrian Uren (horn); Martin Phillipson (trumpet); Colin Prichard (trombone) and Sami Butler (percussion). This talented ensemble was led by Associate Professor Luke Dollman (conductor) as stunning visuals were projected across the 140sqm of LED screens in The Light Room Studio at ILA.
Vanishing Point was part of the Elder Conservatorium's 'Rebooting the Muse: Harnessing digital technologies for sustainability in the Australian performing arts post-COVID-19' research project, funded by an Australian Research Council Linkage scheme grant and generously supported by the Light Foundation. Our research explores how new technologies can be deployed to offer new audience experiences and remote ways of working, while documenting the impact on artistry and community well-being of these innovations.
Special thanks to our own Dylan Cooper and Isaac Ray (ILA) for their technical development of the performance, and the rest of the ILA team: Lewis Godwin, Daniel Holden, Harriet Shegog, and Simone Koch.