The Substation/​ I/O/​ The Composers (In Development)/

IN DEVELOPMENT AT THE SUBSTATION

Love contemporary art? Do you have a child in your care that's at pre-crawling age? Want to be part of a new artwork's origins?

I/O (Matt Kelly and Andrew Callaghan) are developing a new experimental musical work at The Substation, titled The Composers. Working with babies and their carers, this project will utilise motion tracking software, interfaced with Ableton Live, to translate the babies' movement into music. Physical gestures – kicking, raising hands, movements at the elbow or knee – will trigger sounds in real time.

Over a two week development period, Matt and Andrew invite babies and their carers to participate in individual jam sessions. Each 20-minute session involves only one baby and their carer(s) and focuses on what works; what sounds good, what the carers like, how much the composers are in charge, and what ways the participant's age might affect the work. How might certain code make the sounds feel more like music? What kind of environment, sonic or otherwise, encourages the baby to move? How can we craft all this into something that moves beyond novelty and into a musical composition ready for an audience?

Made in collaboration with Threshold’s Sarah Lockwood, this development will lead I/O toward the final form of The Composers. The final artwork outcome is unknown – come help us determine what that might be.

SESSION DATES

9 x 20 minute sessions are available to book into from 10am-2pm on:

Monday 19 June

Wednesday 21 June

Thursday 20 July

Friday 21 July

ACCESS

The session space is wheelchair accessible with space for prams. Gender neutral accessible toilets with baby change facilities are available.

FAQs

How do I book in? 

Navigate to the bottom of this page and select the date of your choosing from the calendar (Monday 19 June, Wednesday 21 June, Thursday 20 July or Friday 21 July). Then select a suitable session time and book a free Baby and Carer(s) ticket.

How long does the session run for? 

All sessions are 20-minutes long.

Will we be with other people? 

Each session is facilitated by Matt and Andrew, with one baby and their carer(s).

How old can the baby participant be? 

I/O are looking to work with babies who are not yet crawling. Roughly 0-12 months.

What if our plans change and we can't make it?

We understand things change, especially with little ones! Please contact us immediately on (03) 9391 1110 or at info@thesubstation.org.au if you can no longer make your session, so that we can make this session available to someone else.

HAVING TROUBLE BOOKING IN FOR YOUR SESSION?

Please contact us on (03) 9391 1110 or at info@thesubstation.org.au and we'll book you in.