thinking about sound and connection to one another is a sound works series curated by Debaser as part of SAW Video and Knot Project Space’s a graph, a lovely tree symposium.
thinking about sound and connection to one another is a series of audio-visual works that came about from doing just that -- thinking about the ways that sound brings us together in a physical space, how the space is affected by sound, how sound is affected by space and our presence in it. Now in the midst of a pandemic, we are challenged to find ways to present performances and create connections in a way that resembles or replaces what we had before. This is hardly possible. Connecting online to experience and participate in performance ends up reinforcing the space between us. Internet speed, video latency, and the quality of our cameras and microphones all get in the way of a convincing simulation. The breakdown, however, can create interesting byproducts in the space between us.
In this series, media artist and musician Xuan Ye leads us in a group interpretation of their original GIF score S.Q.U.I.R.R.E.L.S, where the audience is invited to interpret the score with sound and bodily gestures (no instruments or musical experience required). We then diffuse a recorded performance of musician Wellington Sanipe interpreting and accompanying the animated work of artist Pansee Atta, originally conceived for a place-specific performance series at Ottawa City Hall that was cut short due to the pandemic lockdown. Finally, Instant Places’ web-based piece Breathing Room uses an algorithm to generate sound and visuals that eliminates the need for human interaction and input, creating a third space that is neither surrounding nor between us. Together these works attempt to create, and simultaneously underline the impossibility of, a mediated connection.
ARTISTS
Xuan Ye / 叶轩
Xuan Ye / 叶轩 (CN/CA) is an artist, musician and web engineer, who makes media poetry synthesizing language, code, sound, body, image, data, light, and time through diagrammatic translations. X’s work has been featured, exhibited and performed internationally.
Wellington Sanipe
Wellington Sanipe is an experimental ambient musician, creating lush and blissful synth loops.
Pansee Atta
Pansee Atta is an Egyptian-Canadian artist, curator, and researcher living and working on unceded Algonquin territory in Ottawa. Her work examines themes of representation, migration, archives, and political struggle using diverse media including video, installation, sculpture, and painting.
Instant Places
The Instant Places collaboration of Laura Kavanaugh and Ian Birse has been their central focus for over 20 years: since 1997 they have realized performances, installations, and telematic works on location across the Americas, Europe, Japan, and Australia.