Transdisciplinary performance “Beyond Sound” will take place at the Vietnam Feature Film Studio in Hanoi from 8-10 p.m. on December 19, expecting to be a night of experimental and unique practices that are rarely shown in Vietnam.

Siedl/Cao, a Vienna-based composer-performer and sound artist group, will perform at “Beyond Sound” - PHOTO: COURTESY OF THE ORGANIZER

“Transdisciplinary” is a terminology used to refer to works and practices that are not restricted to just one single medium and discipline of expression. They can be a sonic work that combines elements of visual and space; a performance that is involved with moving images and sound installations and audience’s participation and coercion; or a theatrical play that is structured as a poem with sound and images.

The program, held by experimental music center Domdom, will feature some performances of different art genres by artists from Vietnam and neighboring countries like Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore, as well as an artist from Austria.

The program will open with “Looking Ears”, an electronic music piece by artist Otto Sidharta from Jakarta, Indonesia. Sidharta's interest in using environmental sounds and synthetic sounds to express his musical ideas developed when he was a student at the Jakarta Institute of Arts. In 1979, began to collect some nature and animal sounds on Nias Island, Borneo jungle, Riau islands, and other remote places. These sounds were used as material for some of his most renowned works.

“Looking Ears” will be accompanied by “Poem from Nowhere” by Arnont Nongyao from Chiang Mai, Thailand. “Poem from Nowhere” is a new set performance of moving images and sound generated from DIY items created during Arnont’s performances from 2014 to 2017.

Duo Cao Thanh Lan from Vietnam and Gregor Siedl from Austria will bring to the program their “The Usual Nexus”, a fictional experimental theatre and a series of interactive sound installations. All sounds and visuals are generated in real time using an interactive system consisting of light sensor, light and shadow, motors, modular synthesizer, random generators, objects and live FM radio.

Artists Huong DonNa, Tam Pham, Tuan Ni, and Truc Quynh will perform “The Valley is Uncanny”, a new work for live musicians, electronics, and multimedia by Bangkok-based composer Jiradej Setabundhu.

These artists will share the stage with Kai Lam from Singapore, with “Ethnocacophony Series”, in which the artist explores a cacophony of sound as a rhythm, emphasizing different tempos produced in instruments. The melodies, disharmony and textures were created by using a variety of sound sources.

SGT