Hi-Viz 2020

These days I can think of nothing more draining, soul-destroying, down right terrible, than sitting in front of a zoom call for an entire day.

Chamber Made’s Hi-Viz 2020, the third iteration of their practice exchange for women and non-binary artists, seems to be the exception to that rule. This was my first experience of Hi-Viz, so I wasn’t able to compare this online version to the two in-person events. But I can imagine the day would normally begin with the sound of chatter and introductions, putting bags down and finding seats, a sense of anticipation and excitement hanging thick in the air.

This year it was the familiar unfriendliness of the empty Zoom window. I wondered a few times if I’d clicked on the wrong link or somehow broken the whole meeting. But then Chamber Made’s artistic director welcomed us all to the day and the online space. And I got a sense of that magic anticipation of a great number of creative people all in a room together. Ready to have their creative cups filled to the brim by discussion and art and inspiration.

Starting out strong with Tamara Saulwick in conversation with Janet Cardiff. Renowned for her audio walks and installation works Janet spoke about her creative process, her practice, where and how she generates her ideas. It was the sort of discussion that had me veritably bouncing in my chair. Hearing her talk about all the amazing things she does, and has done with sound, seemed to burn away all the deadening inertia that was living within me during Melbourne’s endless lockdown. I’d come into the day not knowing quite what to expect. Now I was ready to take in everything and anything Hi-Viz had to offer me. A strong theme running throughout the conversation with Janet was the importance of play. And I felt that theme resonate with the entire group and carry through the rest of the day’s activities. The value of playing, experimenting, learning. I’ve since been on a mission to find out as much as possible about Janet Cardiff’s work and it has helped me hold on to the feeling I got from listening to her speak, and from the Hi-Viz experience in general. So energising and compelling. Almost daring me to create something amazing and weird.

We came together as a whole group and responded to prompts in the chat. When we were asked to unmute ourselves and read some of the words in the chat aloud, there was that sense of ​play​. The jumble of words “calm – energised – time – space – creativity – fun – lethargy – “ all mixing together like some ancient room of captured whispers. It was quite magical and other-worldly.

Then we were Zoomed off into breakout rooms for small group discussions in response to prompts.

For someone like me this was quite daunting, talking to people I’ve never met before... on Zoom! Horrifying. But the discussions were so genuine, interesting and welcoming. They were an absolute delight to be a part of. People sharing and being curious and open minded. A splendid way to spend time.

Vibrato Virtual: a temporary sound-making collective was possibly my favourite part of the day. To me it completely embodied that sense of play and discovery that Janet Cardiff mentioned at the beginning of the day.

Using our bodies, hands, mouths to manipulate a soundtrack was completely joyous. I felt like a small child discovering the wonders of a rock pool, or a colony of bugs under a log. I was at my own desk, alone, putting my mouth over my iPhone’s speaker. It should have felt strange, bizarre, weird. I felt a great sense of wonder, and amazingly connected to all the people that were doing the same on the other side of their computer screens. When we did the experiment for the second time, and everybody was asked to unmute themselves, I must admit that I was worried. In my experience Zoom is not the best for collaborative sound-making. But the nature of this project meant that it worked. There was sound mixing and mingling in fascinating ways. It was captivating and meditative and buoyant.

The idea of Vibrato Virtual was to play one of four sound files through your mobile device, and then watch the Zoom screen share and copy the colour-coded movements. I was provided an ​audio described trac​k,​ which gave verbal instructions over the sound file. Yet I didn’t feel that the description interfered at all. I was able to follow the audio instructions and still have the majority of my focus on the sound that was being created by my interactions with my phone. And I don’t think I gained any less from the experience by doing it that way. In many instances like this in my experience, I’ve often felt like an afterthought or that my experiencing something like this isn’t necessary or important. But here I felt valid and welcome and openly included. Because I was.

By the time we took a lunch break I was practically giddy. I was so full up with positive, creative energy, inspiration and ideas that I couldn’t quite contain it. There was so much to think about and process.

After the break I logged into Zoom from my phone and sat in the sun while I listened to Tamara Saulwick and Roslyn Oades discuss the ‘Audio Sketch’ podcast. Roslyn mentioned the wonderful concept of art dates, which to me sounds like the most perfect thing ever. Audio Sketch is a series of longer-form conversations commissioned by Chamber Made, to be released as podcasts, that are essentially art dates with a focus on listening, making and sound. We heard excerpts of Roslyn’s conversations with vocalist, producer, and multi-disciplinary artist Rainbow Chan, and sound artist Ros Bandt. I just wanted, needed, more. I wanted to be sucked into the worlds of these artists and get lost in their practice and their work. And despite being on Zoom, in my lonely patch of sunshine, I felt everyone else on that zoom call feeling that pull, that energy, too. The theme of play was once again present. Each artist touched on its importance; found sounds and objects, experimentation, open mindedness. All intoxicating thoughts.

Oh. It wouldn’t be a virtual event without some technical difficulty... And it was my turn in the Artist Provocateurs session. I missed the prompts and provocations portions, but when my tech did manage to get itself together, and I was able to join in on the breakout room conversations, they were so open and thoughtful. I met some fascinating people doing fascinating things. It was a gorgeous, free, creative space, where honest, at times frank, fun discussion could be had about creativity, ideology and practice. And despite the zoom fatigue being very real by that point in the day, I could have happily kept chatting.

The final event of the day was the Hi-Viz short work commission ‘Living Memory’ by Sui Zhen. This was an audio-visual work, and it was a bit harder for me to stay present and involved, as I was missing the visual aspect and there was no audio description. I was still wrapped listening to the audio aspect, but I can’t deny I was a little perplexed. Maybe it was my end of the day brain? I’d love to have the opportunity to watch it again with audio description, so I could give the work the proper context and understanding it surely deserves.

Regardless, it was a fantastic way to finish the day, bringing everyone’s focus to a single point. The work finished and there was no need for discussion; we were able to sit with our thoughts and soak up all the wonder. The atmosphere in the crowd was contemplative, thrilling, palpable. Don’t even ask me how that’s possible over zoom. But I felt it.

A spectacular day of thinking, dreaming, scheming, feeling. Hi-Viz 2020 inspired me to create and play and shake off the lockdown cobwebs while also giving me the appropriate time, kindness and understanding to do so. I have had my mind opened to thinking about sound in some ways I’ve never considered before, and the drive and motivation to start working on a project I’ve been harbouring in the back of my mind for about 2 years. I experienced, learnt, felt so much in such a short amount of time. If this is what the Chamber Made team and all the fantastic artists can achieve in the zoom vacuum, I can’t wait to experience one of these days in person. Feeding off the living, breathing, creating energy in a real-life space.

Though, somehow, we still managed to achieve this while apart.​ Despite not being in a single place, everyone at Hi-Viz 2020 was co-experiencing these singular artworks and discussions. There was atmosphere and energy, and it was a beautiful experience of creativity and connection.