Interview with Peter A C Nelson from Ground on Ground

Introducing Ground on Ground

Step into a shimmering eclipse, where sun and moon engage in a mysterious duet, and sound, light and music invite us to transcend our world of flesh. Ground On Ground holds in tension the inexorable march of the spheres with our tenuous realities: digital, social, simulated, where our bodies fall away and the real is questionable.

This performance, developed through a series of collaborative workshops between artists in Australia and Hong Kong, based around the notion of mapping the meta discourses between diverse artistic practices: sculpture, new media, sound, installation; Ground On Ground rages in continual sound and light, and contemplates the ever present condition of our falling bodies in space.

Featuring Liveworks 2024 favourites Emily Parsons-Lord, Shan Turner-Carroll and Evelyn Ida Morris, with Hong Kong-based Taurin Barrera, Lazarus Chan Long Fung, Vvzela Kook, Davor Vincze, Karen Yu, and current.cam (Provides Ng, Eli Joteva, Yanzi and Artem Konevskikh).

"For us, performance is an experiment where we bring together artists from completely different worlds and watch a new kind of chemistry unfold. There are sparks of discovery, confusion and pain, but then you hit a chord that is new, something none of us could have created alone." - Peter A C Nelson

What can audiences expect from your performance?

We've brought together a constellation of pioneering artists, musicians, and technologists from Hong Kong and Australia, challenging them to forge a single, shared orbit. From this collision comes Ground On Ground: a performance that moves with the logic of an eclipse. It is a meditation on longing and attraction, on the pull of celestial bodies, and the story told when one light yields to another in the vastness of space.

What is the role of performance in your life?

For us, performance is an experiment where we bring together artists from completely different worlds and watch a new kind of chemistry unfold. There are sparks of discovery, confusion and pain, but then you hit a chord that is new, something none of us could have created alone. The amplifier of the audience turns this private experiment into a shared, resonant story. That feeling of collective discovery is everything.

What are you most looking forward to at Liveworks?

Our goal is to build new relationships between artists and audiences, so we are excited to bring together our international team of artists to work together in person. Beyond Ground On Ground, we're thrilled to see what other artists are dreaming up and to be part of that wonderful temporary world that festivals create.

Words by Peter A C Nelson, Artistic Director of MBOW.