An Improvised Exchange
EBM HUMPHREYS & CHARLIE HAWLEY
“Could be chaotic or sublime, but guaranteed to massage the synapses” said the call-out on Hastings Creatives for a new mix-up night of visual art and musical improvisation. On Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 May, down at Electro Studios on Seaside Road, a collective called Exchange hosted an audio-visual event unlike any other.
A small crowd gathered in the evening to find a screen partitioning the space. On one side was an array of instruments – some familiar (guitars, pianos, turntables etc.) and some more random (springs stuck to metal plates, scrap wood, toast racks with wires affixed). On the other side, separated by the screen, was a low table where three young artists, hunched over a single pad, were preparing paints, pens, inks and watercolours.
When the music began, it was somehow projected onto the central screen, where shifting light and an emerging constellation of vague white spots formed images. Although the musicians were still partly obscured, they were now represented by these loose forms, and in response, the huddled artists converted the nebulous blobs into their own work, which also appeared on the screen, visible to both audience and musicians. Brightly-coloured lines appeared out of nowhere, and abstract faces and formless paths were drawn before our eyes – all of which began to feel like it was prompted by the music and in turn, was influencing them.
Whenever the music swelled, images sparkled and seemed to melt before us, and for thirty minutes at a time we witnessed a kind of dance between two mediums: always the same formula, always unexpected results, created by the real-human-beings and clever software. The absence of structure or message was surprisingly calming, allowing the brain to shut down various mental processes which would ordinarily take you out of your sensory experience.
On Sunday the space was beautifully held by Charlie and artist Lea Monachon as a drop-in for making sounds and pictures ourselves with the same set-up. It was pretty quiet, what with the scorching sunshine in competition, but our visit was blissful and inspiring. Exchange have connections with the best artists in the genre from London and Brighton, and are now getting local bands like Warrior Squares involved. They are planning to run the event again, so keep your ears peeled and your eyes to the ground.
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