Exhibits,
Tess E. McKenzie, Chris Rainier Daisy Bell
Opening: Wednesday 26 February, 6-8pm Dates: 26 February-15 March 20141892: Harry Dacre composes ‘Daisy Bell’, and the following year it charts at number one for nine consecutive weeks.
1961: An IBM 704 becomes the first computer to sing – using the song ‘Daisy Bell’ – in a demonstration of Bell Laboratories’ newly invented speech synthesis.
1962: Arthur C. Clarke witnesses a demonstration of the computer performing the song while visiting Bell Laboratories.
Daisy Bell is an earnest and focused meditation on process, not progress, where the artificial courts the real in an imaginary dialogue.
Tess E. McKenzie and Chris Rainier’s point of convergence is the loop – as an idea and as an action. In this exhibition they explore the notion of endless love, specifically employing the loop as a means of illustrating the Sisyphean elements of any relationship, happy or not.
Tess E. McKenzie completed her Bachelor of Fine Art (Degree with Honours), majoring in Sculpture and Spatial Practice, at the Victorian College of the Arts in 2009. Recent exhibitions include; ‘Valediction’ at Platform Public Contemporary Art Spaces, Melbourne, ‘Benediction’ at Conduit Arts, Melbourne, ‘Get Together’ at Screen Space, Melbourne, ‘name naming’ at Sawtooth ARI, Launceston and ‘HATCHED’ at the Perth Institute of Contemporary Art, Western Australia. Her awards include an Ian Potter Cultural Trust Grant (2013), an Australia Council ArtStart Grant (2011) and the inaugural Hooker Cockram Melbourne Chicago Exchange Award (2007). She has self-published numerous publications and recordings including ‘Isle of Skye’ in 2011 and most recently a new book, ‘Benediction’. In 2014 she will commence a MFA in Fine Art at the Slade School of Fine Art, London.
Chris Rainier completed his Master of Music by Research – focusing on microtonality, new instrument designs and the work of composer Harry Partch – at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. Recent exhibitions include; ‘Topographic Schematic no.24’ at Platform Public Contemporary Art Spaces, Melbourne; ‘((space echo))’ at Screen Space, Melbourne and performances at Melbourne Music Week 2013; KIPL, Melbourne; Sawtooth ARI, Launceston; Conduit Arts, Melbourne and the Y2K-X International Live Looping Festival in Santa Cruz, California. For the last decade he has focused on extending the sonic possibilities of the lap steel guitar beyond its historic use and context. To date he has released six albums, and his playing has featured on various film soundtracks and documentaries.