An innovative new show by a self-taught composer on the autism spectrum will blend the worlds of the digital and the musical when it comes to Glasgow later this week.
Sean Logan, who has appeared on Channel 4's The Piano and in the BAFTA-winning short film Harmonic Spectrum, uses music to overcome the challenges of life on the autistic spectrum, and has collaborated with 3D designer and filmmaker Angus Bradley to use motion capture technology to create real-time images for his show Collide.
It will debut at the CCA in Glasgow on Thursday, March 7, and is produced by Cryptic in collaboration with the National Autistic Society Scotland.
Speaking about the impact of music on his life Mr Logan, who is self-taught and began playing piano aged six told The Herald: "When I was young I learned quickly that music, story and performance were a way for me to overcome the difficulties my condition had placed upon me.
“It let me understand people, it’s a big achievement for me to be able to communicate to you in this way and without music and art I may never have been able to.
“It’s a universal language, non-verbal storytelling and performance, and so it was very obvious to me how, because it was a shared interest not only between myself, but also between my peers and my elders, it meant that my one track mind, which really likes to over-focus on a singular thing, was suddenly able to focus on something that was actually communication.
Read More: Vulnerable children will bear brunt of mentoring cuts, says comedian
“So it seemed like a pretty big no-brainer to continue on and now we're here.”
Collide has been designed with inclusivity in mind, and not just for people on the autism spectrum.
Mr Logan said: "I'm always using a utilitarian approach to try and make these shows accessible to everybody, not just people on the spectrum. We all face barriers and challenges, and I believe that by having that conversation up-front it allows people that attend such events to be conscious of these.
“Big events are growing in size with our population and our capacity to deliver excellent shows with technology, but the same trappings that are a danger to any person is also dangerous to someone on the spectrum. And conditions like autism can make people vulnerable.
“There are millions within our world with a myriad of adversities in their life so finding a middle ground where we can all come around a shared ideal celebrating and enjoying art and music with a mindset of inclusivity and a shared unity and safety has to be worth it.
“I feel once we all start realising it is better if we all try and make sure each everybody is OK at these events instead of pretending that everybody else doesn't exist, that we will be in a better place.”
The show will feature Mr Logan and a digital avatar of himself becoming protagonists of a narrative story, guiding the audience through diverse landscapes, highlighting the contrast between human and machine.
Explaining the idea for the show the musician said: "I was playing at the Isle of Wight Festival and realised that there was a big issue in that everyone had to spend their time with their necks craned back watching a screen which was showing footage of the stage and music video art.
Read More: 'Special place' : Glasgow University club celebrates 70 years of making music
“There were simply too many people, no-one could see the front of the stage and no-one could get anywhere near it.
“It became obvious seeing these excellent visuals and seeing this footage from the stage – why aren’t they one and the same thing?
“We’ll be using a live motion capture suit and real-time digital rendering to create what I can best describe as a live-action music video, along with my whirlwind, lightning fast instrumental performances as I play all of it live on a big piano and lots of different synthesisers.
“It’s very performative but it tells a story, it’s all about narrative and using it as a canvas to paint a real story on, almost like a piece of theatre.
“There will be lights, as many as the lighting team will allow us to have! It’s going to be a brilliant time.
“It’s very much a mixture between what you’d expect from a night of musical entertainment, but it can be as much enjoyed sitting on the ground and watched as a movie listening from the back as it can be down the front having a laugh and a dance.
“That’s something we’re really trying to do moving forward, we’re aiming to not only create a platform where we can have conversations but also finding solutions and seeing how we can implement the new technologies we have to make these concerts better.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here