Origin Melbourne, Australia Years active 1977–1986 | Genres Art rock, experimental Past members see Members list below | |
Labels Innocent, Crystal Ballroom, Present | ||
→ ↑ → (pronounced as three clicks, often written incorrectly as Tsk Tsk Tsk or Tch Tch Tch) was an Australian experimental music project formed in Melbourne in 1977 and led by Philip Brophy. Aside from performing music the project produced artwork, films, videos, live theatre, multi-media, and wrote literature.
Contents
History
Melbourne suburb of Clifton Hill's Community Music Centre was the base for Philip Brophy's project, → ↑ →. Sometimes compared to Andy Warhol's Factory collective, the group provided experimental music (Brophy on drums or synthesiser), films, videos, and live theatrical performances exploring his aesthetic and cultural interests, often on a minimal budget. Musically the group touched upon a wide range of experimental styles including minimalism, punk rock, muzak, krautrock and disco, usually with no vocalist.
Over the project's operation it involved over sixty of Brophy's friends in variable line-ups that included musician David Chesworth on synthesiser, and visual artists Maria Kozic on synthesiser and Jayne Stevenson on synthesiser. They performed at a range of Australian venues including pubs, galleries, university campuses, Crystal Ballroom (St Kilda) and Clifton Hill Community Music Centre. → ↑ → at times included some members of Essendon Airport, a post-punk band that explored similar experimental music forms.
The band performed or exhibited in Europe, including London's Institute of Contemporary Arts and Paris' Museum of Modern Art. In 1983 Brophy issued a retrospective book, Made by → ↑ →, which is co-credited to → ↑ →. He dissolved the project shortly after the 1986 European tour of Stills, and continued to work with, his then partner, Kozic for some time, prior to her relocation to New York City.
Members
→ ↑ → was a fluid project with little stability in the line-ups. The following list indicates individuals known to be involved in the project but the extent/years of their involvement is problematic.
Key members
Participants
Albums
Extended Plays
Singles
"Pop Art" (shared single with Eric Gradman: Man & Machine) (December 1979, Crystal Ballroom)
Filmography
Ten Super 8 films, which were made by → ↑ → during 1978–1982, were later transferred to video tape (136 min). The collection is credited to Philip Brophy (film maker) and Tch Tch Tch (Performing arts group):