
TKAY MAIDZA
The Tank, Art Gallery Of NSW, July 13
LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION is a property mantra not a musical one as, theoretically, sonics rather than visuals should be the priority. But as anyone who has seen a show at the Opera House forecourt will tell you, many artists and audiences will accept less on the sound/comfort front when the trade-off is a view, a backdrop, and a chance to say I was there.
The Tank, the renovated former oil storage space beneath the new wing of the Art Gallery of NSW, is a location like no other in this city, presenting an opportunity and a problem for artists like Tkay Maidza whose scope has always been beyond the quotidian presentations of every day bands. So far though it’s not clear yet which of opportunity/problem will prevail here.
Firstly, it is not a music space: too echoey and too diffused; not loud enough to be physically imposing but too murkily loud for separation and clarity; lyrics were mostly indistinct and between-song chat was rendered indecipherable, and the pillars made uninterrupted viewing impossible. Reviewing this musically makes little sense.
But it is a stunning event space: cavernous and evocative in pockets of dark and light; endless rough, narrow pillars that invite tactile contact; the feel of an excavated ruin with a faint smell of something old and lingering that is probably oil but hits you like dustiness overlaid on rust.
As a statement room it demands first presence and then presentation. The charismatic Maidza has the presence immediately, but the presentation never really came to grips with the demands. Back screen projections were abstract and elliptical to begin with (later, some of her videos were excerpted) but not imposing enough, while in front of them Maidza was fairly static and not served particularly well by fixed up-lights, though the side spots created shadows and some contraspace.

When two dancers joined her the show became physical and expansive across the performance area, movement within the half light energising the room, and this was when the potential for more was most obvious. Given she is known for visually striking shows, confining Maidza to a narrow and not overly wide stage, shorn of any dressing or accoutrements, undersold her and underdressed the space.
Some of this was addressed when the walls around the room had visuals projected on them, enclosing us and pulling us more into the show. Some of the pressure on her as the sole focus was relieved and connection beyond the front rows of the crowd (who were admirably loudly supportive) was improved. But it was not enough really when the opportunity was there for a runway from the stage out into the room; a secondary performance or display spot away from the main stage; more bodies and, definitely, more movement.
In other words, more recognition of location, location, location.
A version of this review was originally published in The Sydney Morning Herald
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