coloured night: 12 hours 12 tones, 2010

Charlie Roby - Toronto, Canada
Mark Gane - Toronto, Canada
Bryson Winchester - Toronto, Canada

Multimedia Installation

A continuous musical composition links the 12 hours of Nuit Blanche with 12 tones of the chromatic scale, transforming the space into a chamber of shifting sound and colour. Drawing in part upon the subjective experiences of synesthetes, quotations and anecdotal material will be used as compositional and performance guidelines, linking colours and emotions to specific keys. Using guitars, loops, voices, hurdy gurdy, keyboards, cello and other instruments, four musicians will perform at four corners. Beginning with a blank canvas of white light and a single tone, the installation artists and invited guests will create the music and control the light throughout the night in live performance as visitors move through the quadraphonic soundscape. At 7 am the hourly chromatic tone will shift one final time and, as the sun rises, the final key is achieved. So the piece will end with the same defining tone, but an octave higher, changed by the night’s events, defined as part of a shimmering major chord, rather than the single starting note, bereft of context.

Charlie Roby is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, singer and producer. Musician and visual artist Mark Gane is a founding member of Martha and the Muffins. Bryson Winchester is a lighting designer and sound technician. This installation is their first collaboration and explores their common love for sound, light and staying up late.

Suitable for all ages