OPEN SPACE Show with Smithsonian Institute
SYNDICATE was invited to perform a live DJ/VJ show at the OPEN SPACE event at Stereolounge, in collaboration with Nanyang Technological University and the Smithsonian Institute.
Based on the theme of “open space” in Southeast Asia, we presented original and reworked music using material from the Smithsonian Human Studies Film Archives.
Brandon’s AV performance piece incorporated live RSS feeds from BBC World, Al Jazeera and the Straits Times to recontextualise the archives to be relevant in our present day. Using simulated military imaging technologies, the Smithsonian material took on a new, redefined meaning.
Watch the video and read what the organiser had to say about our show after the cut.
SYNDICATE 6.5-OPEN SPACE by Brandon Tay
“The OPEN SPACE show was dazzling and innovative. We loved the multiple screens behind the DJs, and also the canted projections on the walls in the back. The use of the archival material from the Smithsonian and its intermingling with contemporary materials and RSS feeds was startlingly imaginative and provocative.
We also loved the live Twitter feeds on the walls. The music was excellent, and its layering of classic Southeast Asian music, words, and beats created just the right ambiance.
We received amazing feedback from the people in the audience, an international group of scholars, including comments that:
• they were surprised something like this would happen in Singapore
• the music was extraordinary and they wanted to buy the CD or download for their iPods
• the images were startling and made them think differently about Southeast Asia and Singapore
• the entire project had a level of spectacle that was still accessible
• it was one of the most innovative spaces they had been in in Singpore
In short, we received nothing but praise and salutes for the gutsy imagination of the SYNDICATE team to create an image and music fusion that spelled out OPEN SPACE, and invited people into it. Thank you again for all of your work on this project.”
PATTY ZIMMERMANN
Head, Curatorial Team, Open Space Singapore/Southeast Asia
Shaw Foundation Professor, Nanyang Technological University Singapore
Professor of Cinema, Ithaca College, Ithaca New York
Co-director, Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival
