My sunset is your sunrise, yet we touch

Dirk Stromberg; Jocelyn Ho; MIchal Seta

My sunset is your sunrise, yet we touch
Image credit: Dirk Stromberg; Jocelyn Ho; MIchal Seta

Abstract:

In “My sunset is your sunrise, yet we touch,” we propose a three-way hybrid-telematic improvisation, by three displaced musicians, featuring 2 DMIs, and an acoustic-prepared piano. The musicians are located in Montreal, Singapore and Canberra at the NIME conference. This performance explores the concept of a multimedia meta-instrument, a collaborative process that integrates audio, video, projection, and lighting into a cohesive whole. The meta-instrument redefines presence and interaction, challenging traditional notions tied to physical co-location. Our approach draws on Karen Barad’s concept of touch as an entangled, relational act. Here, touch extends beyond the physical to encompass the mediated interplay of sound, visuals, gestures, and light across networked spaces. In this environment, the tactility of capacitive keys, the resonances of the prepared piano, and the shifting gestural logic of controller-based sound art merge into a dynamic, co-constitutive system. This telematic improvisation demonstrates how the tactile interactions with instruments, the resonances of sound, and the dynamic interplay of light and video create new forms of connectivity and shared expression across a blurring of physical and virtual spaces. Through this meta-instrument, we aim to push the boundaries of telematic collaboration and artistic interaction.