Sonica: Ecstatic Arc @ Tramway

The premiere of Robbie Thomson’s new live performance work is a truly awesome mix of theatre, music and visual art. It's centerpiece is a Tesla coil mounted within a large Faraday cage (preventing the electromagnetic field from escaping), the “arc” in the title referring to the bolts of electricity that emanate from the top of the device.

Sonica, a new art festival in Glasgow, proudly declares a “dedication to world-class sonic arts.” All well and good, but for some, what prevents sonic art from simply being music is an ongoing source of confusion, and perhaps rightly so – some sound art really does tread a fine line between the two. Not so, for Ecstatic Arc. This monumental performance work employs a collection of post-industrial figurative and abstract kinetic sculptures that form a barren, dystopian landscape. In the course of the performance, they grow from disparate spasms into a cohesive, but unstable blend of music and choreography. The work evokes the unpredictable power of a natural force and the way in which humanity bends the latter to its own advantage. Ecstatic Arc traces a narrative from our unordered, primitive beginnings to the age of enlightenment and modernism.

We are seduced by the raw beauty of the electronic arcs thrown from the Tesla coil that create the aggressive lead melodies. But with the culmination of the performance we are left with a profound sense of disquiet for the chaotic force that runs through our daily lives and the way in which humanity has eagerly plundered the earth, with little thought of the consequences. This really is one of the most exciting and ambitious works I have seen lately, both celebrating and criticising technological advancement. [Christopher MacInnes]