Quick mention of Sonica and I, Tommy (inappropriate comparisons?)

Art - performance, music, painting, film, mixed-media, multi-platform, improvisation or scripted - can pose two sets of questions. One set concentrates on the formal matters - how does this piece relate to the  nature of art? The other emphasises questions of content - what is it about, and how does it present the subject? A third set of questions - discussing how do the content and form relate to each other - emerges from these.

Both Remember Me (Claudia Molitor) and Sandglasses (Juste Janulyte), the opening blasts of Sonica, pose more questions about form than function. Remember Me does have a fairly explicit feminist content, re-imagining the myths of two operatic heroines, but the restructuring of their stories is part of Molitor's broader re-invention of how contemporary composition can be experienced. And for all Sandglasses promises of exploring "the acoustic, visual and symbolic meanings of sand-timers," it is predominantly an aesthetic experience as the spectacular visuals illustrate the microtonal drone of four cellos.

By comparison with I, Tommy, the savage satire of Glaswegian socialist and swinger Tommy Sheridan, Remember Me and Sandglasses have slight content: I, Tommy is all content, and little aesthetic. Equally, the music-hall antics of the play are at the exact opposite of the stark minimalism of the two sound pieces. Yet in this comparison, their worth becomes clearer: rather than encourage rapid, emotional responses, Remember Me and Sandglasses offer meditations on themes that are beautiful and cerebral.