Musical performances by Tim Costner, Nina Buchanan and Joel Stern

Public program for Kate Newby, Always humming: Musical performances by Tim Coster, Nina Buchanan, and Joel Stern—Saturday 29 August 2015, 6pm

To mark the end of Kate Newby’s major, solo exhibition at Gertrude Contemporary Always humming, we have invited three musicians to respond to the work in the space. Tim Coster, Nina Buchanan, and Joel Stern will play one half-hour set each in the gallery on the evening of Saturday the 29th of August, beginning at 6.00pm.

Always humming seeks to create a fluid relation between indoors and ourdoors. Composer Samuel Holloway, who has contributed a 60-minute sound artwork titled High and Tight to the exhibition, referenced field recordings made in the gallery, the back alleyway, and the bustling streetfront. In painting the ceiling a deep cadmium yellow, Newby sought to draw light from outside into the gallery's interiors. On the whole, the exhibition is an exercise in creating an atmospheric experience rather than a series of discrete objects. Its force is anti-climactic, continuous, infectious; what Jennifer Kabat has described as ‘radically slight.’ These qualities and conditions will inform the sets by Coster, Buchanan, and Stern.

Biographies:

Tim Coster (born in Auckland, and living in Melbourne since 2009) performs textural tape and keyboard music. Working as a musician and sound artist, Coster has a particular focus on published audio releases and live performance. He uses a modular synthesizer, audio cassettes, and other electronics to create melodic and layered sound environments. Recent releases include the self-released Gemini cassette, and albums for Australian labels Room 40 (A Moment's Ornament) and Alberts Basement (Waterfront Cities). In 2011 he was commissioned by the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne for NEW11, and has also presented sound installations at Auckland Museum; Light Projects, Melbourne; and High Street Project, Christchurch. In 2014 he was an artist in residence at EMS in Stockholm, and WORM in Rotterdam. Coster will be releasing his first solo vinyl LPResearch and Motion on US label Soft Abuse in late 2015.

Nina Buchanan is a musician and artist from Sydney, now living in Melbourne. She plays with synths and keyboards, with an interest in improvisation and wonky electronic music. She plays in experimental synth band Video Ezy with Del Lumanta, who released a cassette earlier this year on Sydney label Paradise Daily. Nina also makes music for films and other art projects, including the short film MyMy, which has travelled internationally to festivals including Frameline SF 2014, Outfest LA 2014 and Mardi Gras Film Festival 2015.

Joel Stern is a musician, artist and curator based in Melbourne, Australia. His musical performances use analogue electronics, lights and various found sounds and are often improvisation. He is part of the groups Soft Power and Sky Needle, an ensemble described by The Wire’s David Keenan as 'one of the most radically original and self-sufficient performance units in the world.' With Danni Zuvela, Joel is Artistic Director of Liquid Architecture an organisation that presents projects, festivals, performances and situations of the worlds leading artists working with sound. He is cofounder of OtherFilm and The Instrument Builders Project. As a curator, Joel has been responsible for festivals, publications, exhibitions, screenings and concerts in Australia and internationally for over ten years.