Described by The Guardian as ‘visually and sonically exquisite’, Schack-Arnott’s work explores unique approaches to percussive performance. His work has been presented by Melbourne Festival, La Comete (France), Spor Festival (Denmark), Arts House, Supersense – Festival of the Ecstatic (Arts Centre Melbourne), MPavilion, The Unconformity (Tasmania) and Next Wave (2012 and 2014).
From 2010-2018 Matthias was the Artistic Associate of Australia’s leading percussive arts organisation, Speak Percussion. He continues to have a close affiliation with the organisation.
He has won numerous awards, including the 2016 Melbourne Prize for Music ‘Development’ Award, a 2014 Green Room Award and multiple Australian Art Music Awards for his work with Speak Percussion.' As a collaborator, interpreter and improviser, Matthias has worked with many leading musicians including Steve Reich, Claire Chase, Unsuk Chin, Valerio Tricoli, John Zorn, Liza Lim and Steven Schick.
Shifting Ground
Shifting Ground is a participatory installation created by Matthias Schack Arnott in collaboration with Keith Tucker of Megafun. The work was realised through the movement of participants’ bodies as they travel across the surface of a 2.5 metre drum containing 8000 ball bearings. An artistic response to the urgency of the global climate crisis, the work is a place for reflection on how we each affect the balance of the world we inhabit.
The project changed shape through initial testing. At first the idea was that participants would be surrounded by musical 'spheres' (between the size of a soccer ball and a beach ball) that would move of their own accord, emitting acoustic and electronic tones as they rolled around the participants. After initial technological tests, this idea proved too difficult with currently available technology. This lead to a shift in direction artistically, eventually arriving at the idea of the audience tipping the balance of a large surface containing thousands of bearings, which we prefer as an artistic experience.
The work was presented in one of the communal semi-outdoor areas at Trades Hall. 400-500 people experienced the work during the three day trial. The audience response very positive, with many people choosing to stay on tilting surface for more than the anticipated 1-2 min average.