review – immersound at The Others August 6.2010 by Baz Nichols – WHITE_LINE / FOURM

Immersound at The Others, London August 6th

by fourm on August 8, 2010

Nestled amongst the hurly burly of the hinterlands of Hackney and Stamford Hill is the alternative arts/music space known as The Others, situated in a former industrial site on Manor Road. This is to be the location of the inaugural event promoted by the newly formed Soundfjord organisation, based in London, UK, featuring renowned sound artists from around the globe. Curators Helen Frosi and Andrew Riley have here assembled a representative cross section of the current sonic arts community, featuring established artists, and introducing burgeoning talent. Within the framework of the increasingly maligned and marginalised genre of sound art, this is no mean feat, however Frosi and Riley wisely manage to enroll the talents of Yann Novak and Robert Curgenven to bolster the event’s status, both being recent additions to the USA’s prestigious LINE imprint curated by Richard Chartier, and NVO recent additions, i8u and FOURM, alongside Dragon’s Eye (Novak’s own imprint) stalwart Ian Hawgood, and relative newcomers, Mimosa Moize Mimosa Moize open the evening with rapturous swathes of tonal and textural elegance, taking a highly restrained approach that is to be the essential theme of the evening. The duo of Lucia Chung and Martin J Thompson set their stall early, intently crouched over laptops, their work envelops and swirls with graceful, understated activity. Sadly, the set is curtailed by what appears to be an ailing mixing desk, and the duo exit the stage, discontent, but doubtless having learned some of the lessons that live performance brings to bear. The new set by yours truly (FOURM), showcases a work called “interval.impuls”, loosely based on the Method and Area series of recordings, informed by and through architecture, and using the resonance and harmonics of the performance space to evoke curious and engaging sonic patterns. Performed in near total darkness, the overall effect was (hopefully) intense, with cyclic patterns and tonal bursts revolving around a continuously (r)evolving resonant bass-scape. Not being a fan of live presentations on the laptop, I am an unwilling spectator of my own works, and the success (or not) of the piece depends on others more qualified than I to comment upon. Ian Hawgood took to the performance space with a burst of endearing good cheer and a brief explanation of his recent work with gamelan music and instruments recently purchased from the far east. The husband and wife duo are crouched on the floor for the duration of the set, with wife striking copper bells, and Hawgood himself crash editing and sampling them, fusing them into his now trademark soundscapes, best exemplified by his recent Snow Roads release on Dragon’s Eye. The overall effect is a slightly dreamy, murky gamelan, that to these ears at least would have benefitted from more volume in order to impose itself on the space. That said, the net result was interesting, but once again suffering from interference and unwanted crackle from deficient P.A. wiring. Yann Novak, to those sadly uninitiated souls, hails from the seething metropolis that is Los Angeles, and his more recent works are a harsh counterpoint to what one imagines is a city brimming with activity. Novak’s works are elegantly rendered affairs, taking tones and textures and overlaying and interlacing them with a poise and grace that resembles Richard Chartier’s early forays, however, this is no pallid derivative of Chartier’s work. Naturally, the two have met and performed in the same spaces, yet Novak has carved his own identity into his work, and is here presenting works simultaneously with an installation “Stillness”, also curated by Soundfjord. The entire performance, once again takes place in near darkness, an eerie silence befalls the audience who are doubtless enraptured by Novak’s exquisite tonal renderings. The diminutive figure of France Jobin, aka i8u, takes to the performance space almost unnoticed, closely followed by a series of muscular, energetic sounds the like of which it is hard to imagine her crafting. “Crafting” here is the key word, and as the piece unfolds, it reveals multiple layers and textural shifts, alongside subtle interplays of dynamics and the building of tension, this for me is one of the high points of the evening, and in uncharacteristic unrestrained manner, I let out a loud whoop as Jobin’s set ends, such is the joy that I felt at such an elegantly crafted work. Having never encountered the work of Robert Curgenven, who only recently burst onto my radar, through having his sublime “Oltre” work just released on LINE, I was intrigued as the man strode in predatory manner, barefoot towards a triptych of record decks, with all manner of bowls and wine glasses strewn around him. The intensity of Curgenven’s work is mirrored by the man himself, whose mild manner and effortless sense of humour dissipate once he enters his space. At soundcheck, Curgenven is scrupulously principled, instantly winning my admiration as he verbally emits a series of clicks and clucks to test the natural acoustics of the space, and then sets about pushing the equipment and the technician to their absolute limits. Curgenven is obviously a man who resists any form of compromise, and his performance is as engaging visually as it is acoustically. Once again marred by the ailing P.A. Curgenven halts his activities to adjust the speaker’s crackling wiring system, only to once again ignite the space with sensuous feedback, and swirling harmonics. It’s a warm, soupy blend that really should be rich and multi –tonal, vivified with sparkling harmonics, and a decidedly bottom heavy affair, but we have to settle for what the ailing rock P.A, ( and presumably slightly bemused soundman) are able to offer. Technical difficulties aside, this was an encouraging first outing for the Soundfjord organisation, and doubtless, after the initial licking of wounds, promises to carve out a unique path for the UK’s woefully under-represented sonic arts community, as well as visitors with the clout and kudos of Novak. Th event billed itself as “An evening of momentous sonic environments,absorbing, contemplative sound sculpture + sublime, immersive sound art”, and to most of the folks that I spoke with, that remit was admirably filled. The necessary limitations with regard to a specialised space, top quality sound equipment and adequate funding will always rear their ugly head, particularly in marginalised art forms that deserve better, but as events go, and if lessons are learned, the venture has the potential to fill a gap in the sonic arts that is long overdue, and my respect and admiration for the artists and promoters alike is unbounded. Baz Nichols – WHITE_LINE / FOURM/ Level August 2010

immersound

SoundFjord | London
Sound Art Gallery & Research Unit
02088003024 – info@soundfjord.org.uk – www.soundfjord.org
Unit 3b – Studio 28 – 28 Lawrence Road – London – N15 4ER


Press Release
immersound

An evening of momentous sonic environments; absorbing, contemplative sound
sculpture; sublime, immersive sound art and experimental music.

Featuring
Robert Curgenven | i8u | Yann Novak
Ian Hawgood | FOURM | mimosa|moize

Date: Friday 06 August 2010
Time: 7pm doors – late
Venue: The Others | 6 and 8 Manor Road | Hackney | N16 5SA

Entry: £5 adv. / £7 door
Tickets: http://www.wegottickets.com/event/85321
Information: info@soundfjord.org.uk
Directions: Tube: Finsbury Park then 106 bus
Overland: Stoke Newington from Liverpool Street
Buses: 67, 73, 76, 106, 149, 243, 476,to Stoke Newington Overland

immersound is an event featuring numerous international sound artists/performers in a variety of
guises, brought together to highlight shining examples of creative contribution to experimental music and the sound arts with diversity of performance. All are sensuous pieces that must be felt as well as heard! Here, the live immersive environment is a chance for both artist and audience to be consumed by the same visceral experience; to be drawn into and among the same heights and depths of the sonic and emotional spectrum.

immersound has been curated to define the notion of ‘immersion’: the saturated sound and visual landscape – the ‘subsuming experience’. Within the works presented, the notion of the ‘Sound Event’ is pushed to its limits: beginning and end are non-existent – cohesion between expert craftsmanship andà innovative transfiguration meld into dense, subsuming soundscapes.

Curated by Helen Frosi, France Jobin and Yann Novak, immersound is brought to you courtesy of
SoundFjord.Dynamic – the division of SoundFjord | London focusing on the promotion of
myriad aspects of live sound art performance in all its great diversity, at unusual venues, and by
creative means.

SoundFjord.Dynamic curates a platform for excellence, artistic rigour and diversity within creative output. Guest curators and visionaries with passion and intent are also invited to curate themed and eclectic events, encouraging the vanguard of the genre, bringing together highly talented artists from around the world to perform their works to an audience from diverse backgrounds and interests.

SoundFjord | London for contemporary sonic art and its research, is a new gallery with research facilities, exhibition and intimate event space. SoundFjord’s core activities are to act as a hub for practitioners and researchers, to provide a research and collaboration network for practitioners, and to deliver an exhibition and event programme rich in research-based, investigative and experimental sonic art from UK-based and international artists.

Using private initiative and funding, SoundFjord was primarily instigated to address the lack of exhibiting space exclusively for works of Sound Art. Now the gallery not only organises exhibitions, but also documents all works for its Contemporary Sonic Art Archive (CSAA), assists with the development of artists within their practice, and ultimately, promotes and disseminates awareness of its innovative and thought provoking exhibitions and events to art lovers, practitioners, researchers, and to the general public at large. SoundFjord actively invites participation between artists and encourages combined activity through its events and collaborative projects.

i8u wishes to thank the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec for its financial support.

ISEA RUHR 2010

ISEA2010 RUHR Club

Mon 23–Fri 27 August 2010 Dortmund

The club programme of ISEA2010 RUHR is coming up with extreme defined beats, loops, and feedback. It starts on Mon 23 August 2010 with Audiovisual Pilots as synaesthetic laboratory by five international performers. The programme continues the next day with an extravagant performance named Delicate Folk, in which not only music has an important role but also the bodily and theatrical action provide powerful presence and intensity on stage. On Wed 25 August 2010 the E-Culture Fair 2010 closing party with electronic beats takes place at the Dortmunder U. On Thur 26 August 2010 Festicumex performs the night programme in Dortmund. Dick el Demasiado and other Argentine heroes of electronic Cumbia play in constantly changing formations. The closing is an appearance by momus – the British master of synthpop – at Tanzcafé Hösl on Fri 27 August 2010.

Music and sound art already had a special significance in the earliest thoughts about the ISEA2010 RUHR programme. The concert and club programme is therefore a central element in which many thematic strands of the festival are condensed. Enjoy!

Mon 23 August 2010 domicil, Dortmund, 22:00h Audiovisual Pilots Monolake Live Surround, Paul Prudence (gb), evala (jp), i8u (qc/ca), Halldór Úlfarsson (is) Further information

Tue 24 August 2010 domicil, Dortmund,22:00h Delicate Folk Tarek 
Atoui (lr), One Man Nation (sg), Infinite Livez (gb), Blevin Blectum (us), döbereiner & morimoto
 (de/nl/jp) Further information

Wed 25 August 2010 E-Culture Fair Closing Party Dortmunder U – Gewölbekeller, 22:00h Malo, D.E.R. E-Culture Fair 2010

Thur 26 August 2010 domicil, Dortmund, 22:00h Festicumex Cumbia Lunatica from Argentinien with Dick el Demasiado and six other musicians. Further information

Fri 27 August 2010 Tanzcafé Hösl, Dortmund momus (gb) Further information

i8u wishes to thank the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Qu�bec for its financial support.

review – physical, absent, tangible (contour editions) – Giuseppe Angelucci, Spiritual Archives

Physical, Absent, Tangible, i8u, Christopher Delaurenti, Gil Sansón and Brian Mackern & Gabriel Galli –

Thursday,  July 8th 2010

Five names selected for the first title in CD format on “Contour Editions”, relatively young label run by Richard Garet.
The catalogue also includes a section devoted to online releases and another one related to visual elaborations.
Just a year ago Richard (acclaimed sound artist who enjoys high esteem and needs no further introduction – his discography here) chose to carry out the project of a record label, a good place where to amplify his visions, a laboratory of new extensions able to represent his personal concepts of aural perception.
“Physical, Absent, Tangible” is an excellent starting point, formed by contributions which promptly succeed in materializing Garet’s ambitions.

Canadian composer i8u (see here) opens the disc: “Rarefaction” is a long, bumpy navigation constellated by short interruptions and abnormal signals which interfere with the main theme. Quite nonlinear, progressively unpredictable, it evolves into delicate shades of sound, randomly hit by sinewaves.
More density in the second half, a sinister landscape as background, some insertions, processed lines, always in a whisper. Great assemblage and stratification of layers.

Seattle based phonographer Christopher DeLaurenti provides the second and third track. “Sigil” wiggles between noise-oriented iterations and sombre tonalities; also noticeable are whirling effects, employed to emphasize the tones. Some passages are heavily affected by manipulations, some patterns deftly juxtaposed, the whole gives an idea of expansion.
A negligible gap leads to “Nictating”, whose break-in is truly disruptive: a resounding rumble and measured impulses rush in parallel, immutable, beating time, for some moments. A slight change of scenery follows, elements of variability are added, all instances become almost imperceptible, the depth of field more palpable.

The next eight tracks come from Venezuelan Gil Sansón (essayist and composer, meaningful presence in the project EA, shared with Garet, Owen, Arno, Graydon and Gonçalves). Eight movements as product of digital sequences and raw recordings, imprints of musique concrète, sketches of organic shapes. Gil uses effective techniques that transpose the listener into open-ended spaces, by (de)structuring the visible: a cinematic (re)construction of familiar places we will never visit.

A weather event (the Santa Rosa storm) as primary source for the last track. Brian Mackern & Gabriel Galli (both from Uruguay) deal with/manage electromagnetic phenomena occurred on the occasion: interferences picked up by radio reception systems are connected with morse code blips, vocal registrations and looped interludes. The piece has a striking impact, passes through phases of transformation, reaches unexpected levels of outspoken melody.

Collection of works substantially in line with the strategies pursued by Garet, despite a strong and variegated personality of the contributors, which offers exciting prospects for the future of the label.

Label: Contour Editions
Cat. #: ce.cd_0001
Format: CD-R
Release date: 02/2010

Tracklist:
01 – i8u – Rarefaction (11:31)
02 – Christopher DeLaurenti – Sigil (05:25)
03 – Christopher DeLaurenti – Nictating (11:00)
04 – Gil Sansón – La Montaña Se Ha Ido 1 (02:59)
05 – Gil Sansón – La Montaña Se Ha Ido 2 (03:41)
06 – Gil Sansón – La Montaña Se Ha Ido 3 (02:15)
07 – Gil Sansón – La Montaña Se Ha Ido 4 (04:20)
08 – Gil Sansón – La Montaña Se Ha Ido 5 (00:43)
09 – Gil Sansón – La Montaña Se Ha Ido 6 (01:26)
10 – Gil Sansón – La Montaña Se Ha Ido 7 (01:09)
11 – Gil Sansón – La Montaña Se Ha Ido 8 (02:58)
12 – Brian Mackern & Gabriel Galli – 34s56w / Temporal De Santa Rosa (14:24)

review – physical, absent, tangible (contour editions) 2010 – by massimo ricci, brain dead eternity

Physical, Absent, Tangible, i8u, Christopher Delaurenti, Gil Sansón and Brian Mackern & Gabriel Galli –

Sunday, 27 June 2010

Excellent materials on Richard Garet’s recently founded label, enclosed in an abundant hour of sounds suitable for concentration and active listening. i8u’s “Rarefaction” consists of a humming drone (enhanced by virtually inaudible acute frequencies) whose corporeality and intensity changes with the passage of time. Think an earth loop/ultrasonic activity kind of palette with deeply booming surrounding pulses, imprinting the membranes quite effectively without shock or surprise. Just a nice and increasingly mesmerizing piece made with intelligence and good taste, splendidly functional in this early summer Sunday afternoon replete with chirping sparrows and chattering wrens around the house. On an entirely different note, Christopher Delaurenti first subjects us to the strident ejections and electrically morphing ambiences typifying “Sigil”, then contributes to the improvement of our aural awareness in the longer “Nictating” via whooshing loops of whispered post-industrialism that repudiate colour in favour of mechanical pulse and grey mist, until a series of slowly declining electronic arcs and a few subterranean murmurs appear, ending the track on a slightly anguishing hue.

The sonic world of Gil Sansón – expressed in the eight movements of “La Montana Se Ha Ido” – is informed by subtly deployed field recordings and concrete matters rendered scarcely recognizable by the studio treatment; while certain chapters may result a little predictable, a couple of suburban soundscapes and the motionless solidity resulting from opportunely processed layers of environmental manifestations make sure that a degree of respectable acoustic artistry is maintained. Brian Mackern and Gabriel Galli close the show with a composition – “34s56w/Temporal De Santa Rosa” – containing Morse code messages, complex resonances and various kinds of unfathomable intrusion. Alarming atmospheres take shape from a rather static ground, the ensuing music more or less on the level of the best heard on the CD, enriched by a puzzling finale characterized by a vaguely familiar alien melody, transposed to progressively lower registers amidst incessant crackles and discharges.

Contour Editions

London UK 06.20.2010 framework

This sunday on framework  resonance.fm :“these are few of my favorite things”  by i8u

/*framework* / – phonography / field recording;
contextual and decontextualized sound activity
presented by patrick mcginley

*framework*/ broadcasts:
sunday,06.20.10, 10pm, london, uk on resonance 104.4fm (http://www.resonancefm.com)
tuesday,06.22.10,  2pm, london, uk on resonance 104.4fm (http://www.resonancefm.com)
wednesday, 06.23.10, 12am, thessaloniki, gr on cooradio (http://www.cooradio.com)
wednesday, 06.23.10, 3am, lisbon, pt on radio zero (http://www.radiozero.pt)
thursday, 06.24.10, 7pm, lisbon, pt on radio zero (http://www.radiozero.pt)
friday, 06.025.10, 1am, brussels, be on radio campus 92.1fm (http://www.radiocampusbruxelles.org)
saturday, 06.26.10, 5pm, south devon, uk on soundartradio 102.5fm (http://www.soundartradio.org.uk)

Framework – i8u – my favorite things (Installment) #6

Bonjour, I am France Jobin better known as i8u.  Welcome to “these are a few favorite things”.

As mentioned in earlier installments, my interpretation of field recording based work,
is very broad however, the thread I like to follow is to find artists who have mastered
their unique identity through the music of sound.

Here we continue with our focus on send and receive, a festival that has taken place in Winnipeg,
Canada for the last 10 years.  We will cover another 9 live performaces from 2005 to 2008.

In the fall of 2009, s+r issued a dvd, 10 years of sound,
what follow are excertps of thoses live performances.

Playlist + additional info below

Performace Dates            Artists & Websites

1. 2005                    Jason Kahn – jasonkahn.net
2. 2005                    Aki Onda – akionda.net
3. 2005                    Bernhard GUNTER – 3X3IS9
http://www.myspace.com/bernhardguenter
http://www.1pt8.com/3x3is9.html
4. 2007                    Scant Intone-
5. 2007                    Crys Cole
6. 2006                    Steve Bates
7. 2006                    Fletcher Pratt
8. 2008                    sawako
9. 2008                    Oren Ambarchi

Additional info:

Home

Los Angeles – 06.26.2010 – PRESENCE at the Torrance Art Museum

VOLUME is pleased to present Presence,  an afternoon of immersive sound, video, and durational performance work at the Torrance Art Museum on June 26, 12-5pm. Presence plays with the multiple meanings of the title to contextualize divergent practices by a unique selection of artists all working across a spectrum of time based media, whether it is video, sound, durational performance, or installation.

Artists include Jen Boyd (audio performance), Frank Bretschneider (screening), Jeff Cain & Mark Steger (collaborative video performance/installation), Heather Cassils & Kadet Kuhne (sound and durational performance), Richard Chartier (sound element), i8u & Cédrick Eymenier (audio/visual performance), Monique Jenkinson (video screening), Mem1 (audio/visual performance), A.B. Miner (film screening), Yann Novak (audio performance), Adam Overton (durational performance), Taisha Paggett (durational performance), Semiconductor (video screening), Sublamp (audio/visual performance).

The Torrance Art Museum is located at 3320 Civic Center Drive, Torrance, CA 90503. Call 310.618.6340 for more information.
Outdoors

Noon-5pm

The Hop-Frog Kollectiv
audio performance
Front Entrance

Noon-5pm
Monique Jenkinson
video sceening
Noon-5pm

A.B. Miner
film screening
Gallery One

Noon-5:00
Taisha Paggett
durational performance
Noon-12:45
Richard Chartier
sound dispersion
12:45-1:00
Semiconductor
video screening
1:00-1:20
Sublamp
audio/visual performance
1:30-1:50
Marc Manning
audio/visual performance
2:00-2:20
Jen Boyd
audio performance
2:30-2:50
Mem1
audio/visual performance
3:00-3:20
Yann Novak
audio performance
3:30-3:50
i8u & Cédrick Eymenier
audio/visual performance
4:00-4:20
Frank Bretschneider
video screening
4:30-4:40

Heather Cassils & Kadet Kuhne
collaborartive performance
Gallery Two

Noon-5pm

Jeff Cain & Mark Steger
video/performance installation
Roaming

Noon-5pm
Adam Overton
durational performance
Presence plays with its multiple meanings to contextualize divergent practices by a unique selection of artists all working across a spectrum of time based media, whether it is video, sound, durational performance, or installation. There will be a collection of gestures, words spoken, interplay of light and sound, moments of silence, focus, transgressions, layered meanings and experiences, noises, the sound of breathing and bodies performing tasks, a deeper awareness of the passage of time.

Presence is supported in part by the Canada Council for the Arts.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Jen Boyd is a sound artist living in Northern CA. She spends time recording her environment and arranges it into layered soundscapes. In these pieces, some sounds unfold naturally while others are processed. For several years Jen has used contact microphones to explore the textures and timbres in trees and her compositions give depth to these delicate sounds. Although her work mostly relies on ‘natural’ sounds she uses a wide variety of sources to paint sonic pictures for the listener. In future projects, Jen will explore the depths of natural sound and its presentation as art through live performance and installation. Jen strives to spark the interest in people of all ages to listen more closely to the environment they live in everyday.

Frank Bretschneider works as a musician, composer and video artist in Berlin. His work is known for precise sound placement, complex, interwoven rhythm structures and its minimal, flowing approach. Described as “abstract analogue pointillism”, “ambience for spaceports” or “hypnotic echochamber pulsebeat”, Bretschneider‘s subtle and detailed music is echoed by his visuals: perfect translated realizations of the qualities found in music within visual phenomena.

Jeff Cain is an artist who investigates cultural, technological, and natural phenomenon and creates interdisciplinary projects that intervene, remodel, and connects these systems. His work has been presented at the Getty Museum, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Musee D’art Modern de Ville de Paris, Track 16, LA Freewaves, and many other Southern California venues. He is also the founder and inventor of RHZ Radio, which was nominated for the Prix Ars Electronica in 2005.

Heather Cassils is an artist, stunt person and a body builder who uses an exaggerated physique to intervene in various contexts in order to interrogate systems of power, control and gender. Often employing many of the same strategies used by FLUXUS and guerrilla theater, her method is multidisciplinary and crosses a spectrum of performance, film, drawing, video, photography and event planning. Cassils is a founding member of the Los Angeles based performance group the Toxic Titties.

Richard Chartier, sound and installation artist, is considered one of the key figures in the current of reductionist electronic sound art which has been termed both “microsound” and Neo-Modernist. Chartier’s minimalist digital work explores the inter-relationships between the spatial nature of sound, silence, focus, perception and the act of listening itself. Chartier’s sound works/installations have been presented in galleries and museums internationally including the 2002’s Whitney Biennial and he has performed his work live across Europe, Japan, Australia, and North America at digital art/electronic music festivals and exhibits.

The Hop-Frog Kollectiv is a Los Angeles/Long Beach based collective focused on experimental arts, political dissent and fever dream realization and are the curators of Thee Dung Mummy, experimental arts gatherings. The Kollectiv formed in 2003 as a medium for experimental artists and musicians to share, create and exhibit their work and has since become a hub of activity for Los Angeles, national and international emerging artists.  HFK has realized performances and exhibits across the US and Europe.  Their newest incarnation of Thee Dung Mummy (Dung Mummy’s Nomadic Transmissions) focuses on outdoor installations and live shows based in the Mojave Desert.   HFK is also known for their intensive drone rituals.

i8u (France Jobin) is a sound/installation/web artist residing in Montreal, Canada. i8u has created solo recordings for nvo (AT), ROOM40 (Australia), bake/staalplaat(Netherlands),as well as many collaborations notably with Goem, Martin Tétreault, David Kristian and recently the album ligne with Tomas Phillips, on the Japanese label, ATAK. i8u’s web work/installations have been shown at Musée National des Beaux-Arts du Québec, Toronto’s Images independent film festival at MIVEAM 06. The AIR Artist-In-\ Residence program in Krems Austria enabled her to create und transit, a sound\ installation set in the cloister of MinoritenKirche in Stein, Austria.

Monique Jenkinson is a multifaceted performing artist whose work places itself in the gaps between dance, theater, drag and performance art. She has created and performed locally and internationally at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, the de Young Museum, and Trannyshack in San Francisco; the New Museum, Danspace Project, Howl Festival and the Stonewall in New York; the Met Theatre in Los Angeles; the Coachella Festival; Gay Pride in Reykjavik; Supperclub in Amsterdam; and Royal Vauxhall Tavern, Horsemeat Disco and SoHo Revue Bar in London.

Kadet Kuhne is a media artist whose work spans the audiovisual spectrum. With the goal of forming somatic experiences which can prompt visceral responses to sound and movement, Kadet openly exposes the use of technology in her practice by employing fragmented, jump-cut edits and amplifying evidence of sonic detritus. This glitch aesthetic, contrasted with layered ambient reflection, is intended to heighten tensions between motion and stasis: a balanced yet heightened “nervous system” to reflect our own. Trained in jazz guitar in her youth, Kadet became attached to the instinctive nature of improvisation, which led her to the California Institute of the Arts where she studied Composition and Integrated Media. Select exhibitions and performances include the Museum of Art Lucerne, LACMA, Musees de Strasbourg, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, REDCAT, Museum of Contemporary Art-LA, Not Still Art Festival, San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery, The LAB, Highways Performance Gallery and the New York Underground Film Festival.

Marc Manning is a artist and musician living and working in San Francisco. He has released music under the monikers legend of boggy creek, everything is fine, red weather tigers, and heavy lids. He has performed extensively on the east and west coasts over the past 10 years. Manning is a veteran of several Philadelphia atmospheric bands, the shoe gazer art rock of “the legend of boggy creek” and cave core rock of “everything is fine.” Likewise his visual art has been well exhibited on both coasts.

Mem1 seamlessly blends the sounds of cello and electronics to create a limitless palette of sonic possibilities. In their improvisation-based performances, Mark and Laura Cetilia’s use of custom hardware and software, in conjunction with a uniquely subtle approach to extended cello technique and realtime modular synthesis patching, results in the creation of a single voice rather than a duet between two individuals. Their music moves beyond melody, lyricism and traditional structural confines, revealing an organic evolution of sound that has been called “a perfect blend of harmony and cacophony” (Forced Exposure).

A.B. Miner is an artist, curator, and curatorial assistant at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. For the Hirshhorn he curated projects with Yoko Ono and Dan Graham and has worked with Smithsonian Artist Research Fellows Runa Islam and Henrique Oliveira. In March of 2010 Miner presented his solo painting show Naked at which Fly 08 was first shown. In spring 2009 he curated Domesticated: Men and the Domestic Interior at Transformer Gallery. In fall 2009 he was awarded a German travel fellowship from the Goethe Institut to spend one month in Berlin in 2010. As an artist he has exhibited extensively and received awards including the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities Young Artist Program Grant and two Artist’s Fellowship Awards. Miner holds an M.F.A. in painting and mixed media from Queens College, CUNY (2000) and a post-graduate certificate in museum studies from the George Washington University (2006).

Yann Novak is a sound artist, composer and designer based in Los Angeles. His compositions have been published by Dragon’s Eye Recordings, The Henry Art Gallery, Infrequency, smlEditions and White_Line Editions. His work utilizes different forms of digital documentation as a point of departure. Through the digital manipulation of these sound and image files, his works serve as a translation from documents of personal experiences into new compositions fueled by the original experience.

Adam Overton is a living composer of experimental music, performance artist, teacher of performance, sound art & multimedia, and a massage therapist based in Los Angeles.

Taisha Paggett is a Los Angeles based choreographer, dancer, teacher, and co-founder of the dance journal project, itch. Her work is inspired by various discourses on the body as an expressive tool and is interested in bridging the sensibility and discourses of both the visual and performing arts.

Semiconductor make moving images which reveal our physical world in flux: cities in motion, shifting landscapes, and systems in chaos. Since 1999, UK artists Ruth Jarman and Joe Gerhardt have worked with digital animation in an attempt to transcend the constraints of time, scale, and natural forces and explore the world beyond everyday experience. Central to these works is the role of sound, as it creates, controls, and deciphers images, exploring resonance through the natural order of things.

Mark Steger is the co-founder and director of osseus labyrint, the preeminent experimental arts entity based in Los Angeles and has performed live in over 100 cities, conducted public workshops, made presentations and attended symposia and broadcast throughout the USA, Canada, Mexico, England, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Hungary, The Czech Republic, Slovakia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand and over the World Wide Web. Steger’s live performances are experiments that explore the history of the body and its relationship to what it creates. Mark has received numerous awards and grants including a Rockefeller Foundation Multi-Arts Production Grant, a California Arts Council Fellowship, the Durfee Artists Award and 1997 and 2001 Los Angeles Times year end “10 Best” performances lists.

Sublamp is Los Angeles based sound and video artist Ryan Connor. Raised by scientist parents living outside of various national parks in New Mexico, Utah, and Colorado, Ryan developed an early fascination with nature and science that influenced his later work as an artist. Primarily interested in pre-language experience, he uses textural sound and images to explore an intuitive and emotional response to sensory data. His work has been published by Serac (USA), Pehr (USA), SEM (France), Dragon’s Eye Recordings (USA), Friendly Virus (Portugal), Ahora Eterno (Argentina), and soon TRDMRK (USA) and Hibernate Recordings (UK).

ABOUT VOLUME

VOLUME functions as a catalyst for interdisciplinary new media work through exhibitions, performances, events, lectures, and publications. Concentrating on the nexus of music and visual arts practices ranging from the avant-garde to popular culture, VOLUME offers unique opportunities for artists to create and present hybrid works.

London UK 06.06.2010 – framework

This sunday on framework  resonance.fm :“these are few of my favorite things”  by i8u

/*framework* / – phonography / field recording;
contextual and decontextualized sound activity
presented by patrick mcginley

*framework*/ broadcasts:
sunday,06.06.10, 10pm, london, uk on resonance 104.4fm (http://www.resonancefm.com)
tuesday,06.08.10,  2pm, london, uk on resonance 104.4fm (http://www.resonancefm.com)
wednesday, 06.09.10, 12am, thessaloniki, gr on cooradio (http://www.cooradio.com)
wednesday, 06.09.10, 3am, lisbon, pt on radio zero (http://www.radiozero.pt)
thursday, 06.10.10, 7pm, lisbon, pt on radio zero (http://www.radiozero.pt)
friday, 06.011.10, 1am, brussels, be on radio campus 92.1fm (http://www.radiocampusbruxelles.org)
saturday, 06.12.10, 5pm, south devon, uk on soundartradio 102.5fm (http://www.soundartradio.org.uk)

Framework – i8u – my favorite things (Installment #5)

As mentioned in earlier installments, my interpretation of field recording based works, is very broad however, the thread I like to follow is to find artists who have mastered their unique identity through the music of sound.

The next 2 issues of my favorite things will focus on a festival that has taken place in Winnipeg, Canada for the last 10 years. Winnipeg, is basically in the middle of the Canada, a region commonly referred to as the prairies, it is vast and flat. Don’t be fooled, a Winnipeg audience   is knowledgeable and discerning. I had the privilege to play twice at this festival and it remains at the top of my list! This is directly linked to the people I came in contact with while i was there. They are, Steve Bates, Jake Moore, Deanna Radford, Don Bargenda, and the festival is Send and Receive.

In the fall of 2009, S+R issued a dvd of the last 10 years, there is almost 11 hours of audio on it, what follows are excerpts of those live performances.

Playlist + additional info below

Performance Dates,  Artists & Websites

1. fools summons train 1998 – David Grubb
2. 1999 – Lee Ranaldo + Dean Roberts
3. 2000 –  Martin Tétreault – actuellecd.com/en/bio/tetreault_ma
4. 2000 – Oval
5. 2001 – Cindy – actuellecd.com/en/bio/stonge_al
6. 2002 – Tomas Jirku
7. 2002- Michael Dumontier
8. 2003 – Tim Hecker – sunblind.net
9. 2003 – my kingdom for a lullaby
10.2004 – Taylor Deupree – 12k.com

Additional info:

send and receive

Review – unter den linden – und transit (NVO) 2010 – by TJ Norris, Toneshift

CHRISTOPHE CHARLES / Unter den Linden
I8U / Und Transit
Nonvisualobjects

This is one of nonvisualobjects’ three new releases, all of which are collaborations, or split eps, by two artists. Here we have the latest by both Marseille’s Christophe Charles and Canadian sound sculptor i8u respectively. Starting with Charles’ Unter den Linden, a wonderfully atmospheric 30-minute composition which was performed in concert at SND Studios (UK) in early 2009. By using the sounds of wind — and of flying things like planes and birds — the skies are heralded. The above and beyond sounds pay homage to his recently deceased father, Daniel Charles. There’s something of a spirited rumble, though this is quite low-flying and vibratory. A transitional piece that lulls and suspends throughout, like a haunting reminder, or a flickering light at the end of a dark cavernous space that you gravitate towards curiously. Once through you are out on a bustling street, walking through the din of the city. Worlds slowly collide, politely shifting as an ascending craft swallows the scene, leaving behind a semblance of trickling water and whisper.

On Und Transit i8u (France Jobin) paints a restrained world with sine waves by bending elegant sounds, paired with the echoey hollows of a passageway in Lower Austria. During an art residency she found a certain inspiration in the Minoritenplatz, a long corridor towards her studio. Within these sounds of emptiness Jobin recorded a certain reverberation here, a path that shuttles you in secret. The five pieces that comprise the recording are a collection of manipulated field recordings in and around the city of Krems known for its eye-popping riverscapes and historical architecture. Unlike most North American cities contemporary art is integral to the social structure of daily life here. i8u helps draw from daily walks through the city in what may be better described as a micro-encoded mapping of her meanderings. It is on Donnerstag that this becomes most evident on this very elusive work. It lifts gently, opens with an airy drone, rises and glides away.

TJ Norris
toneshift

Review – unter den linden – und transit (NVO) 2010 – by Frans de Waard, Vital Weekly

unter den linden – Christophe Charles | und transit – i8u on NVO

The second new release is also a split one, this time between I8U and Christophe Charles. He opens up with a piece called ‘Unter Den Linden’ and it uses various sounds of airplanes, telephone bells, a silo and a Spanish garbage truck. It lasts thirty minutes and it takes a while before it unfolds. The processing seems to be minimal here, but you’re never sure then about these sort of things. Its an alright piece of music based on field recordings, but also the best I ever heard in this field. Canada’s I8U has five pieces, which she recorded while doing a 3 months artist residency in Krems, Austria. While walking to the studio, she noticed some particular passageway at the Minoritenplatz, which seemed ‘lonely’, ignored by those who used it. She collected field recordings around the small city of Krems and did a four channel installation based on the emptiness of the passageway. These five pieces are typical of the current interests of I8U: high pitched sine waves, but not high involume, and down on the ground there are bits of low end sound. Field recordings are hard to recognize here, if at all. Here too I have the idea that I am listening to something that is actually quite good, but also not very surprising. It might be due to the fact that I8U uses a too similar approach to treating her sounds. The outcome, in both cases is however nice enough.

(FdW) Vital Weekly

nonvisualobjects