SAMA Performance | Oct. 6, 2018
Site Derived Electro Acoustic Performance commissioned by Composer Nathan Felix
Site Derived Electro Acoustic Performance commissioned by Composer Nathan Felix
Solo Show at Blue Star Contemporary
Asked to create a sound piece by composer Nathan Felix for the Imperial China Wing of the San Antonio Museum of Art. Used commercial flower pots as the sound source, then processed their sounds through the modular synthesizer. Duration was two 15 min. performances.
The title is a reference to the spiritual “Down by the Riverside”.
Formally, this piece continues my exploration into the ways that sound can change our perception of everyday objects. Here I am using common plastic vessels (aka trash cans and buckets). The objects are being resonated by voices that are speaking a very simple phonemic language. This language uses the root sounds found in most languages, in an effort to find a universal tongue. These plastic bucket passengers are not at all out of place on the other vessel, which is the raft. The raft is constructed from the word ALL, and acts as the poetic transport for these objects as they travel the dimensions researching and acquiring new sounds in hopes of finding a language that speaks for us all. Thank you.
I Ain’t Gonna Study Hate No More ( A Raft for All mix) 2017 6’ x 4’ x 5’ Wood, amplifiers, transducers, recordless album covers, plastic vessels, humpty dumpty, bamboo, shower curtain.
Audio from the sculpture
The title is a reference to the spiritual “Down by the Riverside”.
Formally, this piece continues my exploration into the ways that sound can change our perception of everyday objects. Here I am using common plastic vessels (aka trash cans and buckets). The objects are being resonated by voices that are speaking a very simple phonemic language. This language uses the root sounds found in most languages, in an effort to find a universal tongue. These plastic bucket passengers are not at all out of place on the other vessel, which is the raft. The raft is constructed from the word ALL, and acts as the poetic transport for these objects as they travel the dimensions researching and acquiring new sounds in hopes of finding a language that speaks for us all. Thank you.
I Ain’t Gonna Study Hate No More ( A Raft for All mix) 2017 6’ x 4’ x 5’ Wood, amplifiers, transducers, recordless album covers, plastic vessels, humpty dumpty, bamboo, shower curtain.
Site derived sound piece for the Visitors Center
Blank audio tape, Reel to Reel player. Leaving the future to be written.
Site specific piece for a fireplace. Used processed field recordings of sparrows and a transducer in the chimney.
Think of this space as graph paper. It is neutral and cold so that it can clearly chart the buzzing lines of this sound/memory collision. This installation is a three dimensional audio collage made up of Stardust, Prom Songs and Heartbeats. The Stardust resonating against the cymbal and flowing from the center of the room is brewed from recordings of comets and winds circulating in our solar system. Solar System songs so strange that they can only be reproduced through a NASA telescope stylus. The Prom songs vibrating the musical wire are pulled down from the aether and channeled into Santo and Johnny’s timeless steel guitar recordings. Finally, the anticipatory heartbeats thumping in the hall are being squeezed out between the rattles of my own chest.
Vin Mahogany, stainless steel muffler,160 watt amplifier, 60 watt 6 ½” loudspeaker. Vocal samples taken from Vin Disel’s character in The Fast and the Furious pitchshifted and timestretched till they hummed.
Arnold Wood form, metal cladding, stainless steel muffler, black rubber, 160 watt amplifier, 60 watt 6 ½” loudspeaker. Vocal samples taken from A. Schwarzenegger’s character in T1 and T2, pitchshifted and timestretched till they purred.
These ceramic objects were constructed based on waveforms (sine, saw, square, etc). Each of the waveform’s sound was then put into a sampler where it was manipulated. The sounds were then reinserted into the pieces and played through small speakers mounted inside each piece.
detail of sine wave form
video excerpt
The spark for this sound piece came from Mr. Ron Binks. His images of the Holocaust sites and memorials are arresting for what they show and challenging for what they don’t overtly say. So I (with the extraordinary help of my brother Dillon) set about creating a sound that would compliment and augment his images. It was my hope that what needs to be said about the Black Site images could be felt instead. The sound is monolithic and dynamic, the full extent of the piece is best revealed by walking around the space, stopping then listening.
Dimensions variable Organ, drum machine, effects processor, power amp, crossover, two loudspeakers, subwoofer, straps, wood and electricity.