GongPong.SAT is a participatory sound artwork for gongs and satellites that was conceived to be performed by random public participants in any given public space. The work maximises on a minimal amout of resources in that it uses a rather simple algorithm or set of rules to achieve a result that is both complex and sublime. At the core of the work is a dedicated mobile phone app that is used to coordinate the participants as a distributed mass, allowing them to “run wild within a system” and undertake performative actions that are never the less synchronal. As the performers make their way through the space as they perform, the sonic, visual, and kinetic elements of the work get united into a synesthetic whole, bringing a unique experience for participants and audience alike with each performance of the work. The goal of the work is not only to create a beautiful work of performative soundart that combines diverse genre but also to get people to come together as a group and enjoy themselves through cultural engagement, letting them forget about differences and life style stress so that they are given the chance to focus on doing something together as true individuals within a group setting.

Anyone interested in participating can participate, because there are no limits as to how can perform in terms of age and gender. As it requires no verbal communication and is quite easy to grasp how to perform the work, the work is able to cross cultural boundaries often drawn by language barriers. To perform the work, each of the participants is given a paired set of tuned gongs, a gong mallet, and an armband phone holder; they are then asked to download a simple app “gong.pong.sat” from the net to their phones. Participants are readied for the performance in less than 5 minutes and performing is accomplished by “learning by doing” – which makes the work not only exciting to perform and beautiful to experience, but fun to participate as it unfolds in time. A sun visor in the form of an Asian straw had is made available to wear as requisite to help participants to slip into the role of performer and to separate them visually from the audience. The sun visors play a role in creating a strong visual impact for the work. As participants can play for a few minutes or a few hours, the duration of the work is variable. As performers come and go, it can be continuous or can stop and start at random intervals over the course of the day.

GongPong.SAT will be performed throughout Poblenou's superilla. The meeting and registration point will be at the intersection between C/Roc Boronat and C/Tànger, at the UPF's building entry.

+info: https://gongpongsat.blogspot.com/

Bio

ART CLAY lives in Basel Switzerland. He has appeared at international festivals, on radio and television, and diverse art venues from top museums to artist run spaces. He has received support from a multitude of arts councils from around the world for diverse projects including those for performance, installation, theatre, and design. Prizes have been awarded to him for music composition, performance, theatre, new media art, curation, as well as software development. For the last ten years, he has taught media and interactive arts at various Art Schools and Universities in Europe, North America, and Asia including the University of the Arts in Zurich. He was a Guest Professor at Sogang University in Seoul from 2014 to 2017 for sound design and music composition.

with kind support from: