At the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, on a cool Friday evening, an immersion into poetry, digital collage and live music dazzled a receptive crowd..

This deeply visceral event entitled "Combinations" is a multimedia performance enjoining the copious talents of painter David Brady whose multi-media art has no boundaries, master poet Amde Hamilton, internationally known for his work in the infamous Watts Prophets and accomplished composer-bassist Mark London Sims.

As darkness quietly descends on the audience the words of Hamilton, challenge us to think, to consider, to act, and to have intent. We hear a soulful beat of a deep bass guitar and see the hypnotic digital collage of a frontier-like relief set against a vast and open landscape. A hush comes over the audience as they breathe a collective breath/as their collective breath becomes audible. The pulsating digital imagery, the potent poetry and the melodic mix of ska and jazz rhythms transfix them and as they begin to gently sway in time to the bass guitar.

As the Poet intones his words and the Musician transposes his chords, so too the Painter resolves his animated canvas as a powerful backdrop to the messages being passed onto the audience.

Giving context to Hamilton's poetry is the breathing imagery created by Painter and Digital Artist, David Brady. Drawing (quite literally) on his paintings and collage art, the projected assemblage is melded together and layered to stunning effect using unique computer technology, manipulating various incarnations of his well-known figure collage. Unlike the Wizard (of Oz) who conducted his magic from behind a curtain, Brady positions himself in the middle of the audience with his laptop, attentive and receptive to the mood of the full house.

As the poetry imbibes us with its sing song-like wisdom, the music provides a solid groove as it effortlessly dances off the sentences with its melodic grace. Hamilton's words are personal and potent, it is heartfelt and sincere, it speaks of clarity and truth, and even manages to laugh at itself in certain places. The animated art projected onto the stage interacts dynamically with the Poet. Words and phrases peer out from under the ever-meditative eye of the lone figure, like subdued firecrackers, which glisten in the sky and then silently fade.

Set against a commodious Western vista, the digital mosaic floats above, seeps around and permeates the individual poems, reflecting in it’s shapes/imagery a gritty street sensibility of found objects and rich textures, all syncopated to the modern beat of original guitar and percussion compositions.

The theme of time and the mind are emblazoned in the digital collage and playoff of the ‘call to arms’ heartbeat embodied within Hamilton’s poems including "Now is New" and "Enter-Net" which cajole the audience out of submission and into action. The composition of each art form folds on top of each other, overlaying texture and heightening the experience, makes the whole far exceed the sum of its parts.

" Combinations" is an original performance experience like no other. The piece is both soothing and provocative. It is a road trip inward, led by images of maps, figures and abstract landscapes, words of provocation and music of hypnotic syncopation, down a path of singular introspection

As the final collage painting reveals itself, Hamilton like a seasoned conductor, draws his orchestra of participants in. They begin a quiet chant of "Now is New" which crescendos into a robust call and response, energizing both Hamilton and the audience who are now on their feet—imbibed with the power of the words, images and music. The potency of the combined art forms hangs in the air, and in the souls of those who have been at the Hammer Museum on a cool Friday evening in Los Angeles.

Alison Roth is a writer and producer living in Los Angeles.

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