Melatonin
Label: Run by Lawrence English (Australia)
Format: 2xCD compilation
Released: April 30,2004Meditations on sound in sleep
feat. Chris Watson, Stephen Vitiello, Ai Yamamoto, Oren Ambarachi, DJ Olive, Lawrence English, Pimmon, Marina Rosenfeld, Skist, Timeblind, DJ /Rupture, John Chantler, Scanner, Zane Trow, David Toop, Steinbrüchel, Philip Samartzis, Lloyd Barrett, Joe Musgrove, Scott Sincclair, Martin Ng, Tetuzi Akiyama, Frost, Gail Priest, Tim Koch, Janek Schaefer
During sleep, a process controlled in part by the body's use of the chemical melatonin, our brain functions in a markedly different fashion to our waking life.
As an example, reading is noted by many sleep researchers to be a quite unusual process, whereby words simply fall off the page, their graphical meaning abstracted as various sections of the brain recline into states of rest.
Something similar is true for sounds we hear generated within dreams, the way in which incidental atmospheres complement, interrupt or interfere with our sleep suggests a new set of understandings. It is these concepts that are explored here in a deeply personal and reflective manner.
Lawrence English Jan 2004
The opening of the installation went off fantastically well at the Next Wave festival in chilly Melbourne town. The works were installed in Bus Gallery—an artist run space in the heart of the city and the exhibition was visited by over 500 people who each enjoyed a lay down and some respite from the constant flood of activity during the festival. There's a review from Simon Sellers below....
The Melatonin installation is also showing as part of a sound exhibition I'll be curating at MAAP in Singapore this october and november. The works will be installed along an 80 metre pedestrian tunnel located on Singapore's Esplanade district. The pieces will be displayed to over 15000 people a day as they walk through the tunnel!! The exhibition also features works from Toshiya Tsunoda, Kuchil Kim and Candy factory to name a few...
http://www.posteverything.com/artists/release.php?id=9125
http://www.room40.org/releases-melatonin.shtml
Rgds!