Instru­ment Builders Project is a forum for exper­i­men­tal work – at the inter­sec­tion of con­tem­po­rary art, sound, music, and per­for­mance – engag­ing artists from Aus­tralia and the Asia-Pacific. Each IBP cul­mi­nates in new and exper­i­men­tal works in the form of ​‘instru­ments’.

Instru­ment Builders Project Kyoto: Cir­cu­lat­ing Echo is the first iteration of the project to be orga­nised in Kyoto, Japan. Over three weeks, artists with diverse prac­tices and cul­tural back­grounds from Indone­sia, Aus­tralia, and Japan will create musi­cal instru­ments while shar­ing the processes of making these devices​. In 2018, par­tic­i­pat­ing artists include Masamitsu Araki, Misbach Daeng Bilok, Caitlin Franzmann, Tomoko Momiyama, Wukir Suryadi, Natasha Tontey and Yuya Tsukahara with practices spanning design, sonic art, and com­mu­nity-based music activ­i­ties, all of which are avant-garde in nature yet also refer to a range of distinctive cultural tra­di­tions.

Building instruments together creates a platform for experimentation and intersections of diverse ideas. How are sound and musi­cal instru­ments cre­ated? And how do these instruments reflect the ideas and perspectives of those who make them and play them, as well as those who listen and experience them?

Visitors are invited to witness these collaborations where experimentation and inspiration is transformed into inventive musical devices. The studio space where the artists share and test out their ideas will be open to the public, with a public program including a work-shop, talk, and a musical performance of these newly created instruments. The sounds created in this project ranging across the oceans from Indonesia and Australia to Japan will form circulating echoes that resonate here in Kyoto. Full program and live documentation via theinstrumentbuildersproject.com

The Instrument Builders Projectは、インドネシアとオーストラリアのアーティストによる、音や楽器に焦点をあてたコラボレーションプロジェクトとして、2013年からこれまで3回にわたり開催されてきたプロジェクトです。今回は、初めて日本・京都での開催。The Instrument Builders Project Kyoto – Circulating Echo-（ザ・インストゥルメント・ビルダーズ・プロジェクト・キョウト－循環するエコー－） と題し、インドネシア、オーストラリア、日本からアーティストを迎えます。アーティストとしての活動も、文化的バックグラウンドもさまざまなアーティストが、3週間にわたるプロジェクト期間の中で、「楽器を創作する」プロセスを共有しながら、新たな楽器創りに挑戦します。

「音」、そしてその音を発する媒体としての「楽器」は、どのように創作する者や演奏する者、あるいは聞く者、体験する者の思考や視点を反映し、生み出されていくのでしょうか。造形芸術、パフォーマンス、サウンドアート、コミュニティに根ざした音楽活動など、先鋭的かつ伝統をも参照するフィールドで活躍するアーティストたちが共に取り組むその過程では、実験精神があふれ、多様なアイディアが交差し重なり合う場が生まれるでしょう。

アーティストがアイディアを共有し、試みを繰り返すスタジオの公開、ワークショップ、トーク、創作された楽器によるパフォーマンスを通して、新たな実験や発想が「楽器」という形で生まれるコラボレーションに、ぜひお立会いください。インドネシア、オーストラリアから日本にまで拡張する本プロジェクトで生まれる音は、循環するエコーとなり、この京都の地で響くことでしょう。

Public Program パブリックプログラム

Open Studio
Tue, 4. – Sun,16. Sep 2018
The instru­ment-making process is open to the public. Vis­i­tors can observe the artists working collaboratively in the studio space.

Exhibition
Wed, 12. – Mon, 17. Sep 2018
Examples of the instruments created in Kyoto and at previous IBP iterations will be exhibited throughout the Kyoto Art Centre.

Talk
Sat, 15. Sep 2018
Caitlin Franz­mann + Mis­bach Daeng Bilok + Tomoko Momiyama

Workshop
September 15, 2018
Visitors are invited to join the artists in experimenting with different approaches to playing the new instruments, discovering new sounds and techniques.

Talk
Sat, 15. Sep 2018
Masamitsu Araki + Natasha Tontey + Yuya Tsuka­hara + Wukir Suryadi

Performances
Sun, 16. – Mon 17. Sept 2018
Artists will stage a per­for­mance with their col­lab­o­ra­tively made instru­ments. Vis­i­tors are invited to expe­ri­ence the unique sounds of these one-of-a-kind musi­cal devices. Kazuhisa Uchi­hashi will perform as a special guest among others alongside Instrument Builders Project artists.

INSTRU­MENT BUILDERS PROJECTS est. 2013

Instrument Builders Project was ini­ti­ated in 2013 by Kristi Mon­fries (Vol­canic Winds) and Joel Stern (Oth­er­Film, Liquid Archi­tec­ture) and held three times since with artists from Indonesia and Australia. The project is a collaborative endeavour that focuses on sound and musical instruments. For IBP, artists invent, build, present and per­form using invented ​‘instru­ments’ that mix tra­di­tional and con­tem­po­rary forms includ­ing sound sculp­ture, instal­la­tion, impro­vi­sa­tion and per­for­mance. IBP cen­tres on a shared res­i­dency model, with an acces­si­ble open studio / work­shop, plus talks and per­for­mances punc­tu­ated by peri­ods of cre­ative free time.

IBP1 at iCAN, Yogyakarta [2013]
Rod Cooper, Dylan Mar­torell, Pia Van Gelder and Michael Candy (Aus­tralia)
Wukir Suryadi, Asep Nata, Ardi Gunawan and Andreas Sia­gian (Indone­sia)

IBP2 at iCAN, Yogyakarta [2014]
Jompet Kuswidananto, Wukir Suryadi, Bagus Pan­dega and Mas Bowo (Indone­sia)
Dale Gorfinkel, Tintin Wulia, Peter Blamey and Caitlin Franz­mann (Aus­tralia)

IBP3 at National Gallery of Vic­to­ria, Melbourne [2014]
Lintang Radittya, Andreas Siagian, Wukir Suryadi, Tintin Wulia (Indonesia)
Peter Blamey, Michael Candy, Caitlin Franzmann, Pia Van Gelder, Dale Gorfinkel, Dylan Martorell (Australia)

In 2015 a commemorative publication was produced, with support from the Australia Indonesia Institute, with commissioned essays and artist pages covering the highlights of the program.

In 2018, IBP will be hosted by Kyoto Art Centre a an open studio with 9 artists (Australia, Indonesia, Japan) occupying KAC studios for 3 weeks – researching, experimenting, conceptualising, building through multiple collaborations and micro-projects. The program includes fieldwork, workshops, concerts, talks and exhibitions throughout the residency period.

The creative outcomes for Instrument Builders Project Japan at Kyoto Art Centre are manifold and consolidate the artistic merit of each methodology: in an exhibition context as sound installation works; in a performance context as unique sonic / musical works and compositions for newly invented instruments; and in a production context as they creation of new ‘sonic objects’ that may be incorporated into other works in the future. Full documentation from past Instrument Builders Project iterations via theinstrumentbuildersproject.com

Top: Artists working at IBP3 at National Gallery of Victoria, 2014
Bottom: MOS (Mountain Operated Synth), produced for the IBP by Michael Candy, Pia van Gelder and Andreas Siagian, 2014