ASCILITE95 Special Events

Uncertain Circle

Monday, 10:30am, Copland Theatre

Uncertain circle is an interactive live performance piece by Keith Armstrong and Andrew Brown. The performance involves a live performer interacting with digital video and synthesizer sound.

Visually, Uncertain Circle mixes digitised video with live silhouettes from the Mandala Virtual reality system. Interaction between the live performer, his digital surrogate and video images of the performer and surrogate integrate into a collage of virtual relationships.

Uncertain circle deals with these relationships as symbolic of real and potential relationships between humans and the virtual worlds and virtual inhabitants they create. At another level it is about the technological and biological selves within us and their interrelationship and mutual control.

The score contains various music sequences linked to video segments, as the video segments are triggered the appropriate music is also played. The order of music and video segments in sections during creation was at times random while mostly preset.

This flexibility presents an interesting challenge both compositionally and technically. Many of the musical segments are written so that they can be played in any order and even overlap without serious harmonic or rhythmic clashes. The technical side of performing randomly selected and concurrently sounding musical sequences was performed by a computer music program called MAX. The composer programmed MAX (a computer language) to achieve the desired outcome and specific extensions to Macromind Director were written in C to link the music and video triggers from the Mandala live performance. In pieces like Uncertain Circle which incorporate live and computer-based performance, writing programs to achieve interaction becomes an inherent part of the compositional process.

Cocktail Party

Monday, 5:30pm, Trade Show Marquee
Special guest: Dr Don Anderson, Chairman, CAUT: "Whither CAUT"


Dinner Dance

Tuesday evening, 7:30pm, San Remo Ballroom
Special guest: Ian McFadyen
Band: Zydeco Jump

There is never an ASCILITE conference without a dinner dance! This one is Cabaret style at the San Remo Ballroom. Special guest Ian McFadyen (of Comedy Company fame) will get you laughing, and Zydeco Jump will get you jumping. Fantastic prizes will be drawn during the evening, so be sure to attend. And the cost is included in the registration. Extra tickets can be arranged, at $50.


COMPANY IN SPACE

Performing at the conference will be COMPANY IN SPACE, known for its innovation and new technologies. The founding members and co-directors, Hellen Sky and John McCormick (not to be confused with Jon McCormack) are both established choreographers whose work explores the meeting points of dance and visual art. The innovative computer systems designed specifically for their works give the performer the power to influence their performance environment through integration of computer sound and image. Their work is at the cutting edge of developments in this new interactive field, creating evocative statements about contemporary issues.

Trade Show

Running concurrently with the conference, the Trade Show will feature displays by companies demonstrating their hardware, software and telecommunication products and texbooks.

Trade Show Participants:

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