TEDxUCLA 2012: Open

Pampas, a land without shadows: musical performance

by

About Gareth

Gareth Walsh is a conceptual artist from the UK working at the intersections of art, cinema, technology and physical space. His work has been shown internationally with screenings and exhibitions at The Broad Stage, the New Gallery, Arena 1 Gallery, New Wight Gallery, Millard Sheets Gallery, Create: Fixate, Wight Gallery, and the 404 Festival of Electronic Art.

About Lysy

Antonio Lysy, an artist of international stature and dedicated pedagogue, has performed as a soloist in major concert halls worldwide. He has appeared with such orchestras as the Royal Philharmonic and Philharmonia Orchestras of London, Camerata Academica of Salzburg, Zurich Tonhalle, the Zagreb Soloists, Orchestra di Padova e il Veneto, Israel Sinfonietta, the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and Les Violions du Roi.

Transcript

So my name’s Gareth Walsh and I actually cheated and brought my notes on stage with me. It’s a real privilege to be on this stage and to be involved with such interesting speakers.

Now I have to confess something: I actually don’t have anything that interesting to say. However, I do have an extremely interesting performance for you to see.

“Since ancient times, artists have longed to create with moving lights and music for the eye that is comparable to the effects of sound for the ear.” This is a quote by Dr. William Moritz, a leading historian in the field of expert — sorry, in the experimental field of visual music.

In his essay, “Towards an Aesthetics of Visual Music,” he goes on to ponder the questions: What are the visual equivalents of melody, harmony, rhythm, and counterpoint? Is light harder to manipulate than air?

The performance you’re about to witness seeks to explore some of these questions by combining the unique skills and artistry of two distinctly different artists and mediums. The visuals are created by myself, and in collaboration with a musical performance by Antonio Lysy and Young Ah Ha.

The Grammy Award-winning musical score, Pampas, was composed by Lalo Schifrin. He explained that in this composition he tried to convey the vastness of the plains between the south of Buenos Aires province and the Patagonia, which is called the Pampa. The distant horizon puts into perspective the solitude without shadows.