Refract: Cello and Glass

Refract: Cello and Glass by Sydney-based experimental trio Shock Lines involves glass sculptures made by Caitlin Dubler that are sonically activated by percussionist Niki Johnson, performing with Natasha Dubler on cello.

Through an experimental process of fusing glass and Hawkesbury sandstone, Caitlin’s work engages with the geological nature of glass and its ancient histories of pyrotechnical play. The unpredictable kiln firing process reveals gritty textures and iron oxide hues embedded within the glass and stone. Sonically this opens a rich palette of sounds - crunching, scraping, ringing. Responding to a provocation of sculpture as a site of material transformation, Natasha and Niki unfold a series of conversations refracted through the sound and materiality of glass.

This studio recording was filmed on Gadigal land at the University of New South Wales, Sydney.

Bios

Shock Lines is an experimental collaboration bridging live music performance, small sculpture, and art installation. The group includes glass artist Caitlin Dubler, sound artist & cellist Natasha Dubler and percussionist Niki Johnson. Shock Lines brings three distinctive understandings of material, transformation and gesture into dialogue through each artist’s respective craft. By mutually challenging the strict conventions of each individual practice the collaboration opens new avenues for play across disciplinary forms.

Caitlin Dubler is a glass artist and trained silversmith exploring material histories through craft processes. Recent work has involved mapping the geology of glass, exploring the multivalent social and geological histories embedded within its materiality. 

Natasha Dubler is a multidisciplinary artist working across sound installation, music performance and small sculpture. She is interested in how resonance, as a material phenomenon, can mould and shape landscape at or below the Earth’s surface, and how memories of these subtle shifts are etched into the material histories of a site.

Niki Johnson is a percussionist and composer-performer whose musical practice incorporates contemporary classical repertoire, improvisation, interdisciplinary collaboration, and performance art. She collaborates with fine-artists, and experimental musicians to create new artworks and instruments existing in the liminal spaces of art mediums.