BY LUCY RASH
Co-founded by University of Melbourne graduates Nicole Tj and Thomas Lo, anon. burst onto the scene in 2013 with a fresh vision for the creative arts. The accessible, cross-disciplinary genre of performance championed by this group is a concept unlike anything I’ve encountered in grassroots Melbourne. It’s appealing, too; as a trained musician with a penchant for theatre and aesthetics, I jumped at the opportunity to experience this, my first venture into project anon..
‘Trailer Music’ saw the duo take on a fabulous concept: commission a score and invite a crew of blossoming young Melbourne videographers to produce a short clip of film inspired by the music. Composition first, video second; a far cry from the usual cutting edge processes of the contemporary film industry. This time around, the spotlight belonged to Australian born, America-based conductor/composer Nicholas Buc.
Lit only by some warm, artfully arranged fairly lights and three sconces upon the musicians’ stands, North Melbourne’s Arts House Meat Market was a sleek, solemn and cinematic choice of venue. Buc’s playful 12-minute feature was a fitting opening to the night, if not a little predictable in its diatonic character and compositional structure. Followed by a multi-movement Saint-Saëns piano trio interlude, the third and final item on the program featured the film in its entirety: all six videographers’ works spliced as one. The clips were intuitive, beautifully shot and conceptually diverse; a true treat for the eyes.
The programmed gap between item no.1 (the live premiere of Buc’s work) and item no.3 (the premiere of the film with anon.’s recording of Buc’s work) seemed a source of very slight confusion to the audience; the juxtaposition of items would have been stronger without the interception by the Saint-Saens. Still, the calibre of musicianship was incredible high, and with a guest appearance by cellist Tim Hennessy, the chemistry between players shone.
Despite the obvious practical and logistic challenges in playing live to recorded footage, would the experience and concept have been enhanced if it were indeed played live? I’d like to argue so.
There’s no doubt Tj and Lo are on to something. It’s a defiantly classy project, and of course there is a stack of room for collaboration between artists of various media, especially in a city that was born to marry these genres. In a sentence? This was an excellent, boundary-pushing concept which could have been executed with a touch more care.
Image supplied.
