• Australian Government / Australia Council for the Arts
  • Brisbane Powerhouse Arts

“A unique tour… it’s hard to imagine a more intriguing encounter with the watery part of the world.” The Age

Madeleine Flynn, Tim Humphrey, Bec Reid and Bindi Green present FIVE SHORT BLASTS

Fri 26 Feb 11:15am - 11:35am

20 minutes Shopfront, Judith Wright Centre All Ages

An early morning work for small water vessels, local rowers and marine radio.

In international maritime language the sound signal of five short blasts means ‘I am not sure of your intentions and am concerned we are going to collide’. Madeleine Flynn and Tim Humphrey’s latest work is inspired and deeply informed by this maritime expression of uncertainty, drawing attention to the shared act of navigating the unknown.

Five Short Blasts takes an audience in small quiet boats onto a city’s waterway to listen. The work literally navigates through a series of overlapping spheres of activity, signalled with a composed radio broadcast that inexplicably and ambiguously blends with the ambient soundscape. It is a choreography of water activity – industrial, community and recreational – and an orchestration of the sound signals and voices associated with the water.

Image: Kate Bliss

Meet the artist

Madeleine Flynn, Tim Humphrey, Bec Reid and Bindi Green

Audio artists Madeleine Flynn and Tim Humphrey work with the human experience of listening, their collaborations intersecting with industry, communities and sites across public art, film, radio, theatre, dance and installation. Their wide range of works are unified under a philosophy that strives for a rigour and experimentation that is also accessible and relevant to broad public engagement.

Their works are commissioned and presented nationally and internationally and have been recognised with awards including the 2014 Green Room Award for Hybrid/Alternative work, the APRA-AMC National Award for Excellence in Experimental Music (2012), and the Melbourne International Arts Festival Award (2007).

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