THE RISK OF HYPERBOLE
Music, dance and visual art oscillate and converge in, The Risk Of Hyperbole, the debut interdisciplinary performance work by composer/director Jack Prest. Created in collaboration with dancer/choreographer Azzam Mohamed and visual artists Joe Wilson and Chanelle Collier, Hyperbole is at once a music recital, dance performance and art exhibition. These traditional modes of presentation are deftly woven together by Prest into an abstract journey that shakes up the hierarchies of performance practice through interdisciplinary collaboration. This is a new performance work commission by Phoenix Central Park and represents a bold new step for the venue as it continues to establish itself as a home for progressive work across all performance art forms.
In taking the lead role Prest breaks the status quo of performance using the score to drive the work, setting the pace, the tone and defining the structure. Written in collaboration with some of Australia’s top jazz and classical musicians the score incorporates techno, hip hop, ambient, experimental electronic and neo classical styles, combined into a progressive new sonic vision. The Risk Of Hyperbole builds on this musical foundation through the juxtaposition and communication with the bold minimal artworks of Wilson and Collier and the visceral choreography of Mohamed. It is this interdisciplinary play which defines the work, as each artistic discipline becomes a character with agency and power. The art forms shift from invisible to dominant and back again all while supporting and harmonising with each other. This flux creates waves of expression that carries the audience through a spontaneous and cathartic experience. The Risk Of Hyperbole transcends meaning in search of the sublime.
The performance features a live music ensemble with Claire Edwardes, Jason Noble and Benjamin Freeman joining Prest, Mohamed, Wilson and Collier live on stage.
The Risk Of Hyperbole is commissioned by Phoenix Central Park and created with the support of The Australia Council for the Arts, Create NSW, PYT Fairfield, Blacktown Arts Centre and Studios 301. The work is produced by Intimate Spectacle.
The Risk Of Hyperbole had its premiere season in November 2021 at Phoenix Central Park in Sydeny.
The first of 3 companion albums was release in early 2022. Vol.1 - Sound is an immersive journey through experimental composition, field recording and sound art as an integrated whole. This holistic vision for sound art, field recording and experimental compositions Prest explores throughout Vol. 1 - Sound is just the introduction. The trilogy will continue throughout 2022 and beyond with the second movement, Vol. 2 - Object, focusing on the common ground between ambient and neo-classical, and Vol. 3 - Movement, which locates hip-hop, techno and footwork along the same constellation line.
Listen to the first single Sound I and order the vinyl record now!
The second album in the trilogy The Risk Of Hyperbole - Vol.2 - Object will be released through Art As Catharsis in 2023.
Full Performance Credits:
THE RISK OF HYPERBOLE - BY JACK PREST
Co-Created with Azzam Mohamed, Joe Wilson and Chanelle Collier
Composer and Director: Jack Prest
Dancer and Choreographer: Azzam Mohamed
Visual Artists: Joe Wilson and Chanelle Collier
Percussion: Claire Edwardes
Clarinet: Jason Noble
Piano: Benjamin Freeman
Choreographic Consultant: Martin Del Amo
Dramaturg: Matthew Prest
Lighting Designer: Fausto Brusamolino
Producer: Intimate Spectacle - Harley Stumm
Acknowledgements: Freya Schack-Arnott (Cello), Dave Rodriguez (Guitar), Jarrol Renaud (Bass), Nick Meredith (Drums), Jack Garzonio (Engineer) who, along with Edwardes, Noble and Freeman contributed to the composition of the score. Jasminka Stenz (Dancer) for her work in early development stages. Matthew Johnson for the title.
We acknowledge the Gadigal and Darug people, the original custodians of the land on which this work was made and will be performed.
Commissioned by Phoenix Central Park
Supported by Create NSW, Australia Council, Studios 301, Blacktown Arts Centre, PYT Fairfield.
All Images are taken from the premiere season of The Risk Of Hyperbole at Phoenix Central Park, Photo Credit Anna Kucera