Saturday June 2nd we visited Diapason to hear Andrea Parkins’ sound installation FAULTY (per-objective). We had just finished a meal so this setting was ideal for some after-dinner relaxation; and quite a nice desert it was! You had to leave your shoes at the door and there were some cushions and rugs lying on the floor to make yourself comfortable. The sounds were very well balanced and the playback system and acoustics of the place, although not super high-end, provided a very comfortable listening environment. The only thing that was less enjoyable is that after 45 minutes something went wrong and all sounds stopped. The lady present at the gallery had no idea how to get the max/msp patch up and running again and there was nobody around to fix it. We decided not to wait until things were working again since we had had our share already. I have to admit though that I wouldn’t have mind to hang out there another hour or so. You can visit this installation again on the 9th of June and I can advise anyone to go there, lay back and just enjoy the sounds (providing they have fixed the problem). Below follows a brief description of the installation and artist and a picture stolen from Diapason:
Saturdays
May 19 & 26, June 2 & 9
6 pm – midnight
Free Admission
FAULTY (per-objective) is a multi-channel audio installation by Andrea Parkins. The work creates purposefully flawed sonic structures, built from a variety of sources, including sound recordings that document the specificity of objects – collected or invented – as they are set into motion. (Upended wine glasses on tilted/greasy mirrors, taut lines of plastic tubing, wobbly plaster forms, apples/potatoes that roll across a bumpy floor, spinning metal washers, stretched skeins of plastic gimp, raspy little snapshots in the wind – these might be performers.) Through the use of Max-based generative processing, multiple chains of audio events will arrive at an indeterminate sonic outcome – an aurality that weaves playful connections between sonified objects, materials and language – and a metaphor for the slippage between object and meaning that occurs through the passage of time (and space).
ANDREA PARKINS is a sound artist, composer and electro multi-instrumentalist who also makes/arranges objects, images and (sometimes) words. Known for her dynamic timberal explorations on the electric accordion and inventive use of generative sound processing, Andrea has appeared on more than 40 recordings on labels including Hatology, Atavistic, Knitting Factory, and Creative Sources. She has performed worldwide as a soloist, and with artists such as Nels Cline, Thomas Lehn, Fred Frith, ROVA Saxophone Quartet, and Otomo Yoshihide. She has also presented her work at the Whitney Museum of American Art, The Kitchen and Experimental Intermedia, among other NYC venues. Currently, Andrea continues to develop and perform a series of Max/MSP-based audio/visual works inspired by Rube Goldberg’s circuitous contraptions, a project realized during artist’s residencies sponsored by the Hamburg Cultural Board in Germany; at Harvestworks in New York City and CESTA in the Czech Republic. For more information: www.myspace.com/andreaparkins
