The Substation/ Merzbow (JAPAN), Cat Hope/ A Universe of Noise/
$45 / $35 + BF
N/A
For the past four decades, Japan’s noise sound artist Merzbow has reigned supreme as the undisputed king of noise. Merzbow, the brainchild of avant-garde musician and writer Masami Akita, is influenced by early 20th-century art movements Dada and Surrealism and in particular Swiss Dada artist and poet Kurt Schwitters. A prolific creator – he has released hundreds of recordings in a range of musical styles – he has collaborated with musicians from around the globe in a rich and varied career characterised by inventiveness.
Live, Merzbow’s sonic works are all-consuming; he creates a uniquely physical sound world within which the bodies of his audience are entirely consumed. To describe it as a wall of noise is to understate the experience, Merzbow’s performances generate a universe of noise, infinitely deep, infinitely complex and one that produces profound overstimulation across all spectra of experience, resulting in a euphoria unlike anything else you might hope to experience.
At The Substation he is joined by the formidable composer and low frequency cultivator Cat Hope, a Melbourne-based noise, installation and performance artist and founding member of noise duo Lux Mammoth.
Presented by The Substation and Room40.
Feature Image: Merzbow, The Substation, 2019, Photo by Siobhan Sweeny
Gallery Images: Merzbow and Cat Hope, The Substation, 2019, Photo by Siobhan Sweeny
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Performance
Boris/ Merzbow/ Corin
Collaborators since 1997, they’ve had profound impacts on each other’s work. Boris and Merzbow work together to create a wall of noise, meshing Boris’ signature heavier sound with Merzbow’s intensely visceral noise music.
These influential “dual institutions of loudness” (Pitchfork) come together for a night dedicated to the darker side of experimental heavy music and Japanese noise.
Opening the show is local artist Corin, who assembles converging styles ranging from grime and trance to baroque-laden ambience. Drawing on a background in classical piano, Corin’s live AV performance encompasses technical configurations executed with equal parts emotion and cold precision, and features visuals by video artist Tristan Jalleh.
Boris with Merzbow is part of the Subsonic program curated for AsiaTOPA by The Substation.
