Firstly let me say bigup and maximum respect to Rustpunk for working really hard for a long time to actually make the ICEBOX "subfest" happen and score the big one, as part of the official DIFF 2007 programme - a big achievement in its own right !

ICEBOX Durban consisted of a number of workshops ranging from topics such as Stop Frame animation to electronic music production. The final two events were a screening of short cutting edge video art by local and some international producers, and then a party /"club night" event - that capdog has reviewed above.

I must say the ICEBOX reel of shorts for me, was decidely a mixed bag, the thing that irked me somewhat was the disjointed order, mixing up styles and themes, my opinion is that they should have been grouped together to reflect similar technique/styling/design/theme/content

However in todays cut and paste, resample and mashup world that was actually probably the design behind the viewing order.

Overall though there were some exceptional pieces and well worth seeing, I can only hope and support any efforts to make ICEBOX or similar events an annual institution as part of the DIFF in future !

Regarding the Rustpunk organised ICEBOX club night/party - I can only feel for the organisers who had a very late abrupt change to venue forced on them - and with the lack of venue options in Durban, especially with the current politically motivated clampdown on nightlife and entertainment in Durban, this was no mean feat to pull off. I will reserve any comments about organisational issues and wait for the organisers to respond.

However mention must be made of MtKidu - who also presented a workshop on their audio-visual mashup techniques the day before at the ICEBOX workshops.

This trio of super talented visual artists, designers and musicians from JHB, really did impress me - i expected possibly more of a Real Estate Agents derivative concept, but they blew me away with their complex musical improvised compositions, that to me left a more fullfilling feeling, than the usual REA glitch cutup minimal beat style - there were synth and melody and vocal parts that counterbalanced the frenetic beat cutups.

Also the improvised visuals by their VJ Chinxxx also added to a full performance experience - hopefully they make it down to Durbs soon, at a venue and event that at least has a bigger screen, and also allows more people to groove down , and not be distracted by stunning views or organisational glitches.

Lets hope Mtkidu felt our love, and one day will ask us to make them a sandwich...maybe even a polony one ! ;-)

Must also not forget the return to Live performance of Captain Asthma - again stunning compositions, by this super talented musician and artist, and veteran electronica producer - that I think were slightly lost on an audience not quite attentive enough to realise that a live performance was underway !

KLIKTRAK
http://www.kliktrak.com