Syn[A]: Clavier A Lumieres

Keyboard with lights, invented by Russian synaesthetic composer, Scriabin Syn[a] is a group of artist-technologys working between Hobart, Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne and Perth. They collaborate online and have never been together in a room at the same time. In this work, Syn[a] members Peter More and Rod Berry join with musician Andrew Legg and medical researcher Chris Henderson for a sonic and visual performance inspired by Scriabin's 1915 clavier a lumbers colour organ instrument. Andrew too has experienced synaesthesia, and as such creates correspondence between colour, sound and text. As he plays, data from his brain and body via medical instruments is mixed with audio, video and musical data from his keyboard, and then transformed and projected as 3D shapes and colour. He uses the evolving images as a graphical score to guide his improvisation, thus closing the multi-sensory feedback loop that drives both the music and the images.