The lights dimmed and a simulated voice introduced the first sound artist. I found myself wishing for total darkness so that nothing could distract from the aural journey upon which I was about to embark. Instead I sat with my eyes closed and let the sounds flow over me, through me, take me where they pleased.

This is Liquid architectures second annual sound art festival, which kicked off on Sunday night at RMIT's Kaleide theatre with liquid crystal, the first of two live performances, featuring a variety of sound experimenters.

Thembi Soddel, in her debut performance, began by creating a feeling of comfort and safety with familiar yet unrecognizable sounds. Curiosity draws you in, then a slow growing intensity becomes violent layers and all is shattered. The listener is then left in momentarily freefall, as all sound vanishes, then a gentle float back to the safety trap, which again begins to deepen threateningly.

Teasing the ear with soft sounds over an almost soundless back ground, Phillip Pietruschka forced the audience to listen harder, bringing consciousness forward. I imagined a timid small creature scurrying across a huge open, possibly empty, landscape.

The "pf duo" utilized a baby grand piano played live, fed through a computer, also "played" live. The result was a kind of alien first contact. Technologies from distant centuries mimicking each other in an attempt to communicate. Violence, chaos and passion with a UFO zip trip.

Sophea Lerner introduced a visual element to the performance, tip toeing slowly onto the stage, triggering two touch sensitive sound traps set on the floor, which contrasted her silent entry with loud clomping footsteps. The audience then taken on a short walking tour through some private and public spaces.

The visual element was continued by "Five Fold Galactic Bells", who demonstrated the power of sound to influence context by setting a home movie of a strange kind of 70's church play rehearsal to oily thick samples over a repetitive loop. There were dark overtones, causing the footage to appear sinister, almost evil. With no obvious evil being revealed, and no definite confirmation of what was happening on the screen, the sound track became a pointer, a hint, and so the footage became extra weird.

The final artist, Kettle, was by far the crowd favorite. Plugging himself into the sound system via wires running along his arms and attached to a device in each hand, he utilized the electronic static of three old school portable TV's, moving with slow deliberate tai chi like actions, producing different frequencies and volumes of buzzing. At one point he tested the pain threshold of the audience, holding a harsh loud buzz for an extended time and watching the reactions he produced. I covered my ears and so did a few more. He then turned to humor, caressing the luminous boxes, tickling them, fondling their dials, finishing with a mild simulated sex act with a TV that switched itself off before things became to heated.

Liquid architecture 2 continues Monday July 2nd with a series discussions and lectures at the RMIT Kaleide Theatre, and another live performance with five more artists, this time at The Planet Café on Brunswick St. For more details refer to the Vibe news letter.