Soliton: at St James Theatre

By STEPHEN JEWELL

Dance parties traditionally appeal to the ears and feet, but the audiovisual extravaganza Soliton - which makes a welcome return to Auckland tomorrow night after a four-year absence - also caters for the eyes and mind.

Soliton bills itself as six hours of non-stop gallery, theatre, club and cinema, but the night is mainly a celebration of VJ-ing - the visual equivalent of DJ-ing - which involves the real-time combination of images with music.

Since Soliton was last staged in 1999, VJ-ing has become an established part of mainstream club culture, and most large-scale dance events now include big-screen visual elements as a matter of course.

However, despite advances in technology making the art more accessible, VJ-ing is not new. Zoe Drayton, promoting and performing at this year's Soliton, suggests that Len Lye could be described as New Zealand's first VJ as he animated to music.

Projecting images at events has been going on for ages from shadows to films and oil lamps, says Soliton founder Michael Hodgson, who is one half of the electronic duo Pitch Black. But because of the release of high-powered laptops, cheap access to projection equipment and the vast amount of VJ software now available, there has never been a better time for artists to explore real-time video assemblage.

Hodgson has incorporated visuals into his work since the inaugural performance by his first band, Tinnitus, in 1986. He also worked with Mike Mizrahi on Auckland's millennium celebrations, and was video director for last year's Louis Vuitton ball.

"All development in my live work stems from wanting to give audiences something to look at rather than people hunched over machines twiddling knobs," says Hodgson.

"As my skill with live video grew, I was able to get work doing it. So I have been able to eke out a living playing around with projected images in the arts, sport and corporate events - basically anything that lends itself to the use of the live environment."

Soliton evolved out of the Rotate Your State shows of the early 90s, which in turn evolved out of the multimedia Tinnitus shows of the late 80s.

But despite its artistic credentials, Soliton and Rotate Your State have always been staged at popular entertainment venues such as the Gluepot, Galatos and Herzog as opposed to art galleries. It was a way to breathe new life back into dying scenes and overused spaces, says Hodgson, who is holding this year's Soliton in the Regent Theatre in the St James complex. With Soliton being a multi-screen event, the size and layout will be perfect.

The retro aesthetic of the Regent adds a distinctive flavour to an event that is otherwise eclectic in style, adds Drayton. The fact that it is an old cinema offers advantages over clubs like Herzog and Galatos, offering better sight lines, a large stage and more roof height, and creating more scope for the artists in presenting their work. Many of the acts involve cinematic or screen-based visuals, and showing these elements in a building that was designed to showcase visual media to the masses felt appropriate, he said.

Musicians performing at Soliton include Sola Rosa, sjd, and International Observers' Tom Bailey, while Hodgson will be playing under his solo guise, Misled Convoy.

"It is a chance for me to do something extreme, slow and long and not dance-driven," says Hodgson. "A chance to explore sound as an experience and not just as entertainment."

Drayton describes her collaboration with Katy Yiakmis as a quadrophonic five-minute audiovisual work exploring the paradox of stillness within motion.

Short films by Lisa Reihana, Morag Magnolia Brownlie and Shona McCullagh will also be screened, while marzuk.improv.nz involves live musicians being animated through audience participation.

However, despite the electronic nature of most of the music, dancing shoes should be left at home.

The style of music at Soliton is a reflection of the artists involved, meaning some styles are more ambient, like Misled Convoy, whereas others are more upbeat, says Drayton. The music in Soliton has been programmed to give the evening an ebb and flow, with a view to keeping the late stayers moving till the end.