Published: 09 Jun 2023
Robert Henke brings ancient computers to life in a world premiere for Sonica. Image by Mihaly Podobni.
The full programme has been announced for Sonica Surge, Cryptic’s new intensive 48 hour festival which will run at Tramway and The Hidden Gardens in Glasgow across 29 and 30 September.
The festival will open with the World premiere of a new iteration of pioneering digital artist and musician Robert Henke’s CBM 8032 AV. The show draws together the worlds of art and engineering, the ultra-modern and the techno-historical, as Henke uses five Commodore computers first released in 1980 to reanimate the now prehistoric-seeming visuals that were cutting-edge four decades ago. Henke gleefully works within and against these enforced technical limitations, coaxing forth new forms on giant screens to showcase these machines’ startlingly dynamic capabilities. From clunky programming languages emerge endlessly varied visuals, with Henke’s bristling live soundtrack bringing together the analogue and the digital, collapsing forty-plus years of technological innovation into one mind-expanding audiovisual display.
As a musician, Henke’s work is inspired by both radical club culture and contemporary music, and his project Monolake became one of the key icons of a new electronic music scene that emerged in Berlin after the fall of the Wall.
Henke is one of the main creators of Ableton Live, a software which since 2001 has completely redefined the performance practice of electronic music.
In partnership with Glasgow’s Goethe-Institut, which celebrates fifty years of Scottish-German culture and relations, Sonica Surge will showcase exclusive events with German and German-based artists.
Berlin-based Japanese composer Tatsuru Arai sees parallels between the development of music and natural science over the last century in Re-Solarization, featuring a live soundtrack that is by turns judderingly challenging and swooningly sublime, seeming to operate at a level beyond anything we’ve heard before.
German-based, Nairobi-born sound artist Joseph Kamaru, who records and performs as KMRU, explores the overlaps and contrasts of natural and artificial sound through field recordings and machine learning in As Nature, featuring visuals from Markus Heckman.
Moritz Simon Geist makes dance music with robots in Hard Times – Rough Sounds!, building to a thrilling techno crescendo using dot matrix printers, vacuum flasks and metal fingers. Replacing the familiar, pre-programmed tools of techno musicians with an array of charmingly clunky robotic devices performing paradoxically precise gestures, Geist produces music that flesh and blood can’t help but respond to (all 30 September).
Showcasing artists from Scotland alongside Ukraine, Sweden, Nigeria, Italy and more, other highlights across the packed two day programme include:
Sonica Surge is the first in a year of special events celebrating thirty years of Cryptic, Glasgow’s award-winning art house – connecting the world through the best in audiovisual art and ravishing the senses for three decades.
Cathie Boyd, Cryptic’s Artistic Director, said: “We are delighted to kick off the celebrations for Cryptic’s incredible three decades with Sonica Surge - an intensive taster of everything Cryptic stands for. As we toast 30 years of bringing the world’s best audiovisual arts to Glasgow, we welcome Sonica audiences both old and new to immerse themselves in 48 hours of mind-bending, jaw-dropping and unforgettable AV work from internationally-renowned artists and incredible homegrown talent. As one of the World’s foremost electronic artists and musicians, there could be no one better than the legendary Robert Henke to open the first ever Sonica Surge with his CBM 8032 AV.
We are also thrilled to be sharing our anniversary celebrations with two of Glasgow’s cultural landmarks as The Hidden Gardens marks twenty years since they opened on Glasgow’s Southside and The Goethe Institut’s toasts half a century of promoting German and Scottish cultural relations. We couldn't ask for better partners to celebrate with.”
Creative Scotland’s Head of Music Alan Morrison commented: “For 30 years, Cryptic have opened our ears and expanded our minds with a world-leading fusion of experimental art and music. Their flagship Sonica festival has provided a platform for some of the most enthralling multimedia work being made anywhere on the planet, bringing together international pioneers and home-grown innovators, some of whom have been nurtured and commissioned by Cryptic themselves. Sonica Surge’s 48-hour explosion of intoxicating art will be the perfect way to celebrate a company who have continually stimulated and provoked Scotland’s culture sector.”
Tickets for all events go on sale at noon on Friday 9 June from www.sonic-a.co.uk
Established in 1994, Cryptic is Scotland’s internationally renowned home of audiovisual art and experimentation. Founded by Cathie Boyd, and based in Glasgow but with a global reach, Cryptic presents and promotes the most dynamic talents of today and tomorrow as they explore new dimensions in live music, visual and sonic arts and performance, and the weird and wild areas where these disciplines intersect and cross over.
Sonica is curated and produced by Cryptic, an international award-winning producing arts house, based in Glasgow. We present today’s most imaginative, pioneering artists whilst also nurturing the creative talent of tomorrow. We create unique experiences that engage and inspire audiences, ‘ravishing the senses’ with multi-media performances that fuse music, sonic and visual art with digital arts. www.cryptic.org.uk
Creative Scotland is the public body that supports the arts, screen and creative industries across all parts of Scotland distributing funding provided by the Scottish Government and The National Lottery. Further information at creativescotland.com. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Learn more about the value of art and creativity in Scotland and join in at www.ourcreativevoice.scot
Ruth Marsh
M: 07824468396
