Sonica 2013 @ Various Venues, Glasgow

Sonica, the festival of sonic art produced by Cryptic, returns to Glasgow for yet another year. The programme, while based primarily on the concept of sound art, is extremely varied, even though it is spread over four days, and at least three different venues. 

In retrospect, the piece most closely tied to the concept of "sonic art for the visually minded" - and perhaps the most sinister  - seems to be Sven Werner's The Escapement. Set up in Werner's studio in the west end of Glasgow, The Escapement seems to be an intelligently constructed, visual and sonic exhibition. Everything in the room makes a sound, although it might not be the sound it is designed to make; the most obvious example of this being the two pianos torn apart to their strings that were then played as instruments. The amount of detail and consideration invested in carefully crafting the atmosphere in this room becomes evident immediately - from the large grandfather-clock-like device to the small mirrors on the dusty desk, the scene emits a strong sense of discomfort and loss, and feels like stepping out of the digital age and into a more analog, industrial past. It gives the impression of an attempt to unpick difficult memories in a post-industrial time, like the dark side of steampunk ideology.

Meanwhile, Josh Armstrong's Lunchbox is possibly the most pleasantly surprising piece in Sonica's programme this year. Providing a large cardboard lunchbox with all-organic, all-healthy food and drink as well as earplugs, wipes and a map, Armstrong allows the lunchbox bearer to stop, take time out of a busy schedule and enjoy this moveable feast in Glasgow. Using the elegantly written notes, Lunchbox creates a memory of sound, of texture and of food - in his words, a kind of "munching memory cartography." Eating a meal simply doesn't get much more enjoyable than this; drowning out any hustle and bustle with earplugs, it allows an association with food that is beyond the functional or practical. And he helps you clean up afterwards too!

In the more performance-based arena, Yannis Kyriakides' Buffer Zone strives to capture the idea of existing in the vacuum between two cultures. A UN soldier based in Cyprus talks about his observation post and expresses a strong degree of alienation from either side of the line. While the four-screen multimedia performance with piano and cello in tow seems to understand and reflect the idea (and frustration) of living in a gap between two cultures, it seems to lack a certain context that would place it in Cyprus. That is to say, the buffer zone portrayed could be any buffer zone. Of course, to a UN soldier that might be exactly it - one assignment to a buffer zone might not differ greatly from another since the absence of any signs of life would deem a place a simple urban landscape no different than any other.

Considering the festival is only in its second year, Cryptic seem to have compiled a solid programme with a few established artists and some emerging talents. However, the festival doesn't seem to represent sonic-visual art as much as it could, leaving a sense of something missing.