Uploaded February 2025 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Elliott Sharp and Janene Higgins present Suspension of Disbelief, a structure for improvisation using video and sound. In their work together, the images provide a visual counterpoint to the music. Foreground and background are continuously shifting as both sound and visuals emerge from fixed elements and then expand with improvised extrapolations. The projections may solidify the abstract but may also elevate that which is obvious to another level of meaning, never literal, never explaining, but creating an immediate visceral response. As a composer, Sharp's strategies encompass fractal geometry, chaos theory, algorithmic approaches, genetic metaphors, and new techniques for graphic notation to yield work catalyzing a synesthetic approach to music as well as functioning as retinal art. A multi-instrumentalist, Sharp may perform on guitars, reeds, instruments of his own invention, and electronics. A graphic designer by profession, Janene Higgins uses original footage, hand-painted textures, and digital processing in her projection design which she may then manipulate live, using various software operations. Sharp and Higgins have created a number of operas with the visuals providing set and setting as well as commentary. The operas include Binibon (2009), Port Bou (2014), Filiseti Mekidesi (2018), and Die Grösste Fuge (2021). In addition, their Entanglement Suite was premiered in Naples, Italy in September 2023 by the Ensemble Dissonanzen.
Elliott Sharp and Janene Higgins present Suspension of Disbelief, a structure for improvisation using video and sound. In their work together, the images provide a visual counterpoint to the music. Foreground and background are continuously shifting as both sound and visuals emerge from fixed elements and then expand with improvised extrapolations. The projections may solidify the abstract but may also elevate that which is obvious to another level of meaning, never literal, never explaining, but creating an immediate visceral response. As a composer, Sharp's strategies encompass fractal geometry, chaos theory, algorithmic approaches, genetic metaphors, and new techniques for graphic notation to yield work catalyzing a synesthetic approach to music as well as functioning as retinal art. A multi-instrumentalist, Sharp may perform on guitars, reeds, instruments of his own invention, and electronics. A graphic designer by profession, Janene Higgins uses original footage, hand-painted textures, and digital processing in her projection design which she may then manipulate live, using various software operations. Sharp and Higgins have created a number of operas with the visuals providing set and setting as well as commentary. The operas include Binibon (2009), Port Bou (2014), Filiseti Mekidesi (2018), and Die Grösste Fuge (2021). In addition, their Entanglement Suite was premiered in Naples, Italy in September 2023 by the Ensemble Dissonanzen.
