Joining smART Magazine from Espoo, Finland, and Valencia, Spain, Monika Hauck and Alex Ricci are the two halves of the performing duo Static Channel. I first experienced them playing shows in makeshift venues across Toronto. Using cymatics (visual representations of sound waves) induced by Alex’s groove-heavy bass, Monika would manipulate and project a swirling vat of pigments, immersing the room in rumbling colour. They are an act a fan can follow, adding new sounds and visual implements to each performance and installation. Over the pandemic, they’ve taken time to develop their upcoming multimedia project Levadas, a meditation over distance, memory, and place.

sM | What new forms of expression do you find interesting in this trend towards combining visual art and music in performance?

AR ─ I mean, some people even talk about what venues should smell like. The stuff that I’m into is exploring the convergence of these two fields in such a way that it doesn’t even necessarily seem like music anymore; it seems like something that you can’t quite define.

One thing that’s really inspired me here [in Valencia] is this festival called Volumens, which a few of my professors are involved in. In particular, Professor Marta Verde had a really cool collaboration with another artist, José Venditti, called Omen. He was playing saxophone over his modular synth music and she was doing modular visuals—affecting it with gestures and video feedback. That element of the human — making little mistakes, little variations, little choices in the moment — I think that’s what other humans want to see in a performance.

MH ─ Since we started our project in 2015, there’s been increasing demand for musical artists to have visual components. During the pandemic, seeing how artists and promoters are adapting performances has been really inspiring. Particularly in Toronto, Wavelength Music has been doing variety shows, increasing the potential for audience interaction.

Right now, there are so many tools available for artists. It’s also a supersaturated time for people’s attention. There’s higher tolerance for watching performances in alternative formats. By the same token, not every performer can conform to a virtual format. We took our time during the pandemic to focus on other things, thinking about what it means to be in a room with people performing. I’ve always been interested in bringing forward installation elements and thinking about shows more as sharing space and creating an atmosphere, as opposed to a performer-and-audience dynamic.