Bernhard Günter

Sound Installation

My installation deals with the experience of constant change and space. It uses four of my compositions (Monochrome White, Polychrome w/Neon Nails, Monochrome Rust, and Differential), all derived from the same basic sound material and each exactly 44'00" long. For the installation I have added fade ins and fade outs, as well as silences of different durations to the pieces, to the effect that their combination/constellation in eight channel sound reproduction will not repeat during the entire time the installation will be exposed. The overall sound character of all four pieces is rather weightless and floating, due to the complete absence of low frequencies. As these high frequency spectra are being reflected by the walls, it becomes possible to experience the space it is set in with one's ears (not unlike the way a bat's orientation system works). I have chosen the silences and fade so that the least active and intense piece will play all of the time, while the most intense one will not be present for 15 minutes between repetitions, giving a clear 'view' on the softer pieces. The pieces are being played at rather soft volumes so that the visitor can influence their relative loudness by changing her/his position in the listening space. The whole is intended to set the visitors' mind to a calm and contemplative state, and make her/him experience the soundscapes the way one would contemplate a flowing river or listen to the wind in the trees in a quiet forest. The comparison between an entirely electronic environment and nature may seem strange, but it is used to describe a state of mind, and i hope it will make sense to you after a visit at Diapason Gallery.

bernhard günter 09/12/2002

Fred Szymanski

Friction Sticky Rough

The sound-making procedures of nonstandard synthesis -- iterative and nonlinear in nature -- were the point of departure for the image-making techniques used in Friction Sticky Rough, a sound and image installation for multiple video projection and loudspeakers. The sound component of the piece is based on functional sound synthesis, which involves developing musical structures by manipulating interactions at the sound-particle level. In developing the image component, I set out to parallel this micro-compositional approach and to create a visual analog of the sound. The video consists of simulations of particle paths which provide a highly complex continuous medium for the transformation of nonlinear flow fields by means of particle-to-object interactions.

about the artists:

Bernhard Günter: Born 1957, in Neuwied, Germany. Starts playing drums at 12; changes to electric guitar at 17. 1980, moves to Paris; attends lectures by Pierre Boulez at IRCAM and College de France, and works in the libraries of IRCAM and Centre Pompidou, studying contemporary compositional techniques. Provides music to the Ensemble Choreographique de Vitry several times. 1986, returns to Germany. 1987, starts to work on music using the computer. After four years of preparation and one year of work, he releases his very influential first CD, 'Un peu de neige salie'(listed in 'Top 100 Albums that set the World on Fire', in THE WIRE). 1995 he founds his label TRENTE OISEAUX. He has since released a substantial number of full length CDs, and taken part in compilations on both TRENTE OISEAUX and other labels. He has played concerts in: Chicago, Seattle, Portland, Santa Cruz, San Franciso, Los Angeles, Chapel Hill, Osaka, Kyoto, Tokyo, London, Lyon, Grenoble, Bern, Zürich, Vienna, Rome, Bologna, Berlin, Frankfurt, Darmstadt, Ghent, Reykjavik, Bruxelles, Nancy, toured in Japan (Osaka, Kyoto, Tokyo, Yokohama) with his fellow artist (and friend) Steve Roden in November 2001. After another concert in Frankfurt future plans include Hagen, Albuquerque, and Valencia. In October 2002 an eight channel sound installation will be presented at Diapason Gallery, New York. His music is regularly played (in Absentia of the composer) at the Futura Festival de Musique Acousmatique in Crest, France, and one of his works (the ant moves / the black and yellow carcass / a little closer; w/J. Hudak.) has received one of twelve Honorable Mentions at the 1999 PRIX ARS ELECTRONICA.

Fred Szymanski is a New York-based sound and video artist. He has created audio works for CD, with releases by Soleilmoon Recordings, Asphodel Recordings, and JDK Productions (Amsterdam). He recently completed a remix of PERSEPOLIS by Iannis Xenakis, which is part of a compilation CD recently released by Asphodel. His CD MANIFOLD, a Laminar Project, will be released in fall 2002 by JDK Productions. ANTE-CHAMBER, A Laminar Project, was released by Soleilmoon/Staalplaat in 1999. Group exhibitions that have featured his work include the 9th Biennial of the Moving Image (Centre pour l'image contemporaine, Geneva), Sonic Saboteurs (Berkeley Art Museum), the VideoRom program at the Valencia Biennial, and Bit Streams (Whitney Museum of American Art). His sound/video works have been shown in New York, Mexico City, Edinburgh, Zürich, and at the European Media Art Festival in Osnabruck, Germany. He has performed at the festival organized by the ICMC (Akademie der Künste, Berlin), at "Music without Walls? Music without Instruments?" (De Montfort University, Leicester, England), and at Engine 27, in a concert sponsored by the Electronic Media Foundation and curated by Carla Scaletti.

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