Two Turbulence Commissions at Pace

Two Turbulence Commissions (both part of Turbulence@PaceDigitalGallery2, April 5-29, 2011, New York City; http://csis.pace.edu/digitalgallery/):

1. "Spectral Quartet" by Woody Sullender
2. "Channel TWo: NYC" by Adam Trowbridge and Jessica Westbrook
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1. "Spectral Quartet" by Woody Sullender
http://turbulence.org/works/spectres/

The audio content of "Spectral Quartet" consists of filtered radio signals, culled from various web streams from the Internet. These signals are being passed through many "band pass filters", a type of equalizer that allows a small range of frequencies through while attenuating frequencies outside of this range. In effect, most of the audio signal is "erased" except for a narrow stratum of frequency material. This work highlights small, hidden musical moments that are occurring on radio, but are usually rendered inaudible by other elements in the sound.

Although the Internet can bridge disparate communities, our experience on the web is of a customized landscape, with content tailored to our ideological views, our shopping behaviors, our socio-economic demographics, etc. "Spectral Quartet" literally re-unites these voices into a singularized, aestheticized, quiet moment.

"Spectral Quartet" is a 2010 commission of New Radio and Performing Arts, Inc. for its Turbulence web site. It was supported in part by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.

BIOGRAPHY

Woody Sullender is an artist currently based in Brooklyn, NY, working primarily in music and audio media. Over the past few years, he has emerged as a pre-eminent experimental banjo performer, playing with and against the cultural baggage of the instrument. More recent work focuses on "erasing" existing audio by removing most of the frequencies from a recording via band-pass filters. This has manifested in a range of media from a lathe-cut record of a diminished "Smells Like Teen Spirit" to an FM broadcast of erased radio stations. Among other activities, he teaches new media in the New York area and hosts a weekly radio show on WFMU.

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2. "Channel TWo: NYC" by Adam Trowbridge and Jessica Westbrook
http://www.turbulence.org/works/ChannelTWo

Eleven years into the new century, it is time to discuss the terms of surrender. Not a surrender to any civilization but the surrender of civilization to those in control who would use any political participation as a crutch for their failure. The question is not if but when giving up on civilization will be seen as the only rational political stance. Channel TWo is a post-network media channel that begins with entertainment-based narrative as a common language. Structurally, it employs internet algorithms, viewer research and custom software to generate localized content. The outcome is a nonlinear, local media sequence that is directly connected to the community in which it is situated. Channel TWo begins after the inevitable surrender of civilization, a never-ending, visually-stimulating, product-placement-based culture stream.

"Channel TWo: NYC" is a 2010 commission of New Radio and Performing Arts, Inc. for Turbulence web site. It was supported in part by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.

BIOGRAPHIES

Adam Trowbridge explores the aesthetic possibilities that arise as communication breaks down. His work has been featured nationally and internationally including The Grey Market and Anthology Film Archives, NYC; Pleasure Dome, Toronto; The Hyde Park Center, Chicago, IL; and festivals in France, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Korea, and Russia.

Jessica Westbrook?s projects explore desire, visual cues, cultural artifacts, systems, language, and contradictory sensations that vacillate between great fortune and impending catastrophe. She has exhibited work nationally and internationally including recent and upcoming projects for: gli.tc/h/ Chicago, Nature/Nurture Kinsey Institute, Carnegie Museum, and Experimental Media Series Hirshhorn Museum of American Art Smithsonian Institute.

Trowbridge and Westbrook work with the group Basekamp on Plausible Artworlds, a project to collect and share knowledge about alternative models of creative practice.