Kim Chalmers

HOME (2’30”)

Kim Chalmers, 2011

Musique concrete & installation using found objects

After spending much of the last couple of years travelling a lot for work I have come to a new found appreciation of the meaning of home. It’s a precious thing to me now, home time. This work plays on that sentiment by integrating everyday objects from around the house with the ticking of the clock from my kitchen which forms the perpetual backdrop to my day and represents the splendid ordinariness of routine.

The audio is comprised of sounds made only from the objects you see in the cube. It slides from a soundscape to a percussive piece and back again – my two most utilised forms of composition.

In this two and a half minutes the ordinary becomes art, sounds become music, just as simply being at home has become rare and treasured.

Kim Chalmers is a composer, wine grower and environmentalist who sees the Murray River as a central theme in all her activities with much of her catalogue of electro-acoustic compositions having been inspired by the environment around her home on the banks of the Murray.  Kim studied Composition and Digital Arts at Adelaide University where she then went on to teach music technology and electronic music from 1999 to 2003.  She often utilises collages of found sounds in her compositions which range from piano solos to large scale multimedia performance art works.  Her major works Riverlife (2006, for percussion ensemble & tape) and Elements (2008, for harp, string quartet, horns, percussion duo and tape with film and dance), and current opera project Tantalus with playwright Duncan Graham all focus on environmental stewardship, climate change and water issues in the Murray Darling Basin.  Last year saw her provide musique concrete pieces for a vinyl released as part of an avant-garde winemaking project as well as compose a suite of Marimba solos for a wine dinner/masterclass/concert/experiment looking at the way music affects the way wine tastes.  Multi-sensory perception has always been a field of interest for Kim who has also worked extensively with sound and light composition.  Kim's White Cube installation is her first foray into visual art - of course with an audio element.