Category: art

au concert printemps flottant is a maya.rouvelle installation shown at the palais de tokyo as part of concert hall, a large collaborative work included in nouvelle vagues.

au concert printemps flottant is a kinetic installation composed of organic and industrial materials, including a live tillandsia medusa, a custom LED grow light, a motor, and commercial gas vapor street lights, among other materials. a micro-controller regulates movement and changes in lighting intended to both sustain the tillandsia and reveal a sequence of 26 short variations in movement and light over 11 minutes. au concert printemps flottant was built and programmed on-site during the installation period for nouvelle vagues’ concert hall and was influenced by, and references, the themes of music, play and integration at the heart of this exhibit.

the materials include: tillandsia caput-medusa, electronics, plastic tubing, metal springs, custom electric light, vellum, wood, paint.

the dimensions of the work are approximately 10’x20’x15′.

click on the images above or here for the flickr set.

lili and i (maya.rouvelle) have a show at a private gallery in baltimore, md, called die Botschaft 1628, owned by marcia hart. the show runs until september 23, features 6 new works, and is available by appointment only. none of the work is for sale, there was no opening, and no hype. we had several salon style discussions, and visits with interested viewers.

prior to our show we weren’t aware of people dedicating parts of their homes to occasional, private art exhibits.

the experience has been wonderful. before this opportunity we began the summer developing several works with no idea where they would eventually be shown – happily devoting our time to our work and process. in may we met marcia and visited die Botschaft 1628, and had a few subsequent discussions over the summer that lead to the opportunity.

we structured our time as a residency with an accompanying exhibit. we completed the works begun in our studio on-site, conditioned by the gallery, and after the works were completed, were able to spend mindful time with interested visitors and get their feedback. we gave a few gallery talks to small groups and had easy access to the space while managing when visitors would be there. we were able to visit the work privately to look at it installed at different times of the day (the gallery has two large windows so the lighting conditions change dramatically), document and learn from it.

the title we chose for the show was: a silent evocation of the society for private musical performance – a reference to the salon chamber music society of vienna in the early 20th century. that society was designed to permit a diverse array of new concert music the chance to be heard in an educated, critical environment of careful listening and thought (often works were performed twice on the same evening) as a foil to mounting public and journalistic confusion of popular trends, entertainment and privilege with art that were contributing to a harsh environment for the evolution of music as an art form.

our time at die Botschaft 1628 has shown us an ideal exhibition paradigm for our art practice and process, and we’ll leave the gallery focused and inspired. i’m writing about this because there may be others out there who feel similarly, either potential private gallerists or artists, and this may serve as an impetus to a deeply rewarding experience.

we’ll be posting documentation of our work here and on our shared site, mayarouvelle.com, in the coming weeks.

this is a collaborative project with lili maya, our website is here.

composed of electronics and paper, through continuo is a work for the Brooklyn Zen Center’s No-Eyes Viewing Wall, and part of the Silence and Noise exhibit (April 13, 2012-Through winter ’13), co-curated by Noah Fischer and Terence Caulkins.

through continuo is installed on the walls and ceiling of the gallery. the dimensions of the work on the wall are approximately 9’x16′, there are five small piezo speakers coupled with glass mueller tubes suspended from the high ceiling in front of the work by approximately 3′ – one needs to look up to see them. the speakers/mueller tubes occupy roughly the same space as the wall installation. shadows from the components installed in the ceiling (including wiring) form changing compositions with the circuitry, wiring and paper mounted on the wall. the gallery has large windows so the lighting conditions change throughout the day. the piece is lit with a mix of electric and natural light. the work emits very quiet sounds from its piezo speakers. the amplitude of the audio is intentionally on the threshold of hearing, and the placement of the speakers creates a spacialized listening experience. small, white LEDs with varying brightness and frequency (described below) and white wires are integrated into the paper mounted on the wall. the paper has been embossed by hand.

through continuo is a constellation of events. some are random: gamma-ray detection and the presence and behaviors of visitors, and some are composed: the sonification of the gamma-rays (the very quiet pops and clicks one hears around the work, emanating from piezo speakers mounted in the ceiling), the look of the installation, and the changing frequencies of the LEDs. “frequencies” of the LEDs refers not to the brightening and dimming, but to the changing rates of pulsation. this feature of the work is very difficult to document. a short video is here.

gamma radiation detected by our sensors are transposed into sound and light. the relationship between the gamma-ray detection and the pops and clicks of sound is linear, 1:1. the relationship between the soft pops and clicks to changes in the frequencies of the LEDs is statistical, non linear. each led has its own pattern of brightening, dimming, and pulsating, and those behaviors are influenced by a statistical analysis of gamma-ray detection in real time.

essentially, the work has linear and logarithmic relationships based on random events. for the viewer, this creates an experience that oscillates between one’s impulse to understand events as sequential/temporal and a work that is inherently spectral, i.e., based on persistent, shifting frequencies.

in the context of binary title of this show, Silence and Noise, we’re thinking about time and frequency, and how one’s experience is persistently both, but how from an increasing number of perspectives time is an illusion unique to the human mind. the universe, it seems, is not sequence, it is waves – but we are wired so that to us its always both. in through continuo the linear relationship between the gamma-ray events and the audible clicks is a noise element in that it evokes the temporal mind, and the silence is the silence of the visible change in LED frequency.

the Silence and Noise effect is that the work itself is an oscillation, a wavelet and an interval between the two.

for more images go here.

this is a collaborative project with lili maya, our website is here.

120/108 is a sound and movement work Lili and i did with Terence Caulkins. it was realized as part of the opening performance for Silence and Noise at the Brooklyn Zen Center (April 13, 2012), co-curated by Noah Fischer and Terence Caulkins. Silence and Noise, for which we also have a sculptural work, (we’ll post images/video soon…) will run through September 29, 2012.

120/108 began as a study on the acoustical properties of a large, singing bell that resides in the zendo (meditation space) of the Brooklyn Zen Center and has a primary role in services at the center.

the analysis of the bell extended to an analysis of how its sounds propagated through the zendo, and how different acoustical properties of the bell, its frequencies, and those of the zendo were revealed at different locations within the space.

the work we composed utilizes various acoustical phenomena evoked by striking and rubbing the bell, as well as resonating it with sine waves. we developed an interface to synchronize contact with the bell with software and permit real time communication between the two.

the piece was experienced by walking slowly through the space as practiced with kinhin (walking meditation). visitors followed a pre-determined path intended to slowly reveal each element of the composition. additional performances over summer ’12 are being planned.

the title refers to the primary frequency of the bell, and the number of interactions with it during the performance.

more images.

we’ll be posting a recording soon.