Dark Mirror White Noise | Chevron Festival Gardens | Rating: N/A
I was fortunate enough to take lectures held by local artist Jon Tarry during my studies at the University of Western Australia. While I never interacted with him one-on-one, his passion for the fine arts was contagious but what was most striking about Tarry was his dedication to exploration and experimentation with materials and concepts in the art world.
I have the utmost respect for any artist who dares try something unseen, who will do something that’s primary objective is not to please a crowd, to have a polished aesthetic – someone who experiments for the sake of exploration. I had the benefit of knowing this about Tarry as I entered the Chevron Gardens.
Tarry was joined on stage with Australian trumpeter Peter Knight and Danish vocalist Esther Maria. They stage was filled with some bizarre devices that were later revealed to be tools for drawing and making sound. Tarry opened the piece by starting to draw, as his page was projected on screen. He drew a continuous line, as Knight and the other musicians began to form an eerie, jarring soundtrack to Tarry’s linemaking.
Maria delivered softly spoken poetry intermittently throughout the piece, as Tarry switched between drawing tools and Knight between instruments, exploring sound and the visual uninterrupted. This performance did not have ebbs and flows, climaxes or crescendos – it was continuous and haunting, perhaps intended as an experiential moment in time, rather than a succinct performance with a clear beginning and end.
I have chosen not to rate this show, as it could mean almost anything to anyone. As I sat entranced by the drawing, by the sound, I noticed people leaving the audience – I expect because they were seeing something they did not expect. Maybe they didn’t like it? To be honest, that made me like it even more. For some people this performance may have been a man scribbling while people made irritating sounds, for some it may have ignited their creative spirit, or just been a new and exciting experience. This performance would have evoked something different from each person who saw it, and that’s precisely what made it beautiful.
Leigh Hill
