Ryoji Ikeda: superposition hits Montreal, Saturday Oct 11

We arrived at the Théâtre Maisonneuve in downtown Montreal for Ryoji Ikeda's, superposition, with only ten minutes to spare. As I scanned the foyer, what struck me was the diversity of the attending crowd – an eclectic balance of both old and young; but I could tell these were true veterans of the Ikeda phenomenon – they knew how important it was to have him perform in Montreal, the first step on his North American tour. I also pondered that this would be an intriguing concert for our Esprit patronage, another great opportunity to experience New Music on Canadian soil.

The next 1 hour and 5 minutes were truly mind bending. The simplest way to describe it was an oscillation between microcosmic and macrocosmic presentation, expressed through sound and visuals – from the simplicity of a single sound wave, to the bombardment of data and sound combined, washing, at great speed, over the audience.

In those moments of extreme impact, the notion of angry data leapt to mind, as the frequency of information increased exponentially and we, the viewer, were left to struggle with complex computations.

On the one hand, this can be taken as purely performance art – the interplay between sound and sight. But there is immense meaning and meticulous thought to every number, symbol, word and sound. It is the type of presentation that can be watched again and again, and each time the viewer might decipher another component, experience fresh realization, or just allow the series of calculated moments to wash over them with no end in mind.

Superposition will be performing next at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on October 18th, just two days after Esprit’s first concert of the season, Polaris. Why not catch both!

-- Steven Hobé