Polka • Playground is a live audio-visual performance centering on improvisational music. Initially part of Toccata Studio’s bi-monthly New Music Series, Polka • Playground is an interactive performance; creator Ng Chor Guan uses music software with which he invites random members of the audience to ‘place’ dots, each representing various elements in music, on the screen. The dots on screen become the music on which the musicians build the performance; as these dots move on the projection mapped on the performance venue, the music too, moves.
These ‘seeds of music’, which forms the basic vibe of each Polka • Playground performance, interact with and respond to each other on the screen, creating compelling and beautiful visuals. The music, as a result, is diverse and enigmatic and different each performance. The participating musicians play a myriad of instruments ranging from electronic to acoustic, eastern to western. Like a game of ‘join the dots’, the visuals offer the audience a new way to ‘see’ music; one sees almost anything: from stars and constellations, to fireflies, to particles and molecules and DNA structures.
Ng Chor Guan wishes to present his piece as a reminder to his audience; a reminder to look up at the skies, a reminder to look for beauty in everything.
