HYPERAUREA: Echoes of Midwinter 

Sean Williams (composing as “theadelaidean”) invites listeners into ambient spaces inspired by his voyage to Casey research station as the 2017 Australian Antarctic Divisions’ Arts Fellow. His tenth album for Projekt Records, Hyperaurea: Echoes of Antarctica reflects on his experiences during the fellowship and, fittingly, is as vast and mysterious as the continent that inspired it, running for just under four hours. This presentation includes the album in its entirety, with a visual response created by Shane Bevin and Katie Cavanagh that references in part the diaries of Professor John Long, transforming the FUMA gallery into a celebration of Midwinter’s Day that the audience can enter and leave at will. 

In February 2017, Sean Williams travelled on an Australian Antarctic Division Arts Fellowship to Casey Research Station, four thousand kilometres south of Perth. There, he engaged with the people and places that make Antarctica one of the most unique environments on Earth. With Hyperaurea (“beyond south”) he reaches beyond the written word to capture his experiences through ambient music – piano, drones, and textures evoking weather and human activities. Across almost four hours, Hyperaurea charts a course through the ice, sky, water, weather and rock of a precious and hostile landscape that few people ever visit.  

This presentation of Hyperaurea at FUMA aligns with Midwinter’s Day in Antarctica, and draws in contributions from other researchers at Flinders University: Shane Bevin of VEED, whose visual responses provide an extra dimension to the audible components; and Professor John long, who has made available his expedition diaries from several trips to the Far South. Each aspect of this presentation explores the many faces of the last frontier on Earth, through: human and non-human phenomena; a pervasive sense of transience and mortality; and the constellations that unite the continent under a single, infinite sky. 

Audience members are welcome to come and go as they please, a luxury not afforded to expeditioners over-wintering in Antarctica. Comfortable seating will be provided, along with commentary (if requested) and a welcome escape from Adelaide’s own wintry environment. Hyperaurea is the soundtrack of Sean’s voyage through a land that exists in a precarious relationship with people—and promotes a sense of kinship with those existing in that space through the past, present, and future.  

Sean Williams is an award-winning, #1 best-selling author for readers of all ages. His long list of works includes original series, novels, short stories and poems that have been translated into multiple languages for readers around the world. He is Discipline Lead of Creative Writing at Flinders University and recipient of the Australian Antarctica Division’s Art Fellowship.  

A past winner of the Young Composer Award, he also pursues a parallel career as a composer in the field of experimental ambience. His work has been played in venues as diverse as the National Museum of Australia and Slingsby’s Hall of Possibility, and has featured in worldwide performances by experimental UnPiano Trio. Recently, he created original soundscapes for exhibitions by visual artists Thom Buchanan, Chris Houghton and Julia Robinson. The multi-artform dance work Bárbaros, for which he composed the original score, will debut in 2023 as part of the Adelaide Festival Centre’s 50^th anniversary program.

For more information:
www.seanwilliams.com
www.theadelaidean.com