iChamber – Computer Music International

October 14, 2002

WHAT: iChamber – Computer Music International
WHEN: 7:30 p.m., (Friday) Oct. 25 or (Saturday) Oct. 26
WHERE: Digital Arts Ranch, Tempe
TICKETS: Free, no admission charge; seating is limited, call 480-965-9438
INFORMATION: 480-965-9438

The Institute for Students in the Arts' iChamber Players, consisting of School of Music faculty, graduate students and guest artists, presents iChamber – Computer Musical International, a program of recent works for acoustic instruments and computer generated sounds on Oct. 25-26, with ASU's Director of Bands Gary Hill conducting. Both the ISA and the School of Music are units of the ASU Herberger College of Fine Arts. Download Full Image

“The program gives the valley a taste of the activities being developed in some of the world's most active computer music centers: ZKM in Germany, IRCAM in Paris, Kunitachi College in Japan, and the University of California at San Diego,” says JB Smith, iChamber managing director and director of percussion studies in the School of Music.

The program will be held on Oct. 25 and again on Oct 26 at 7:30 p.m. at the ISA’s newly refurbished and newly named Digital Arts Ranch (formerly Drama City). Included in the renovation of the venue were upgrades to the audio system, seating, lobby and video projection system. The iChamber program takes full advantage of the cinema quality surround-sound speaker system and digital audio console.

The Digital Arts Ranch is located on the main ASU campus in Tempe on the southeast corner of University Drive and Myrtle Avenue. Admission is free to either concert, but seating is limited, call 480-965-9438.

“As music technology has evolved so have the spectra of possibilities for live musicians interacting with digital media,” notes Smith. “Ludger Brümmer's Medusa requires two percussionists (Doug Nottingham and valley newcomer Brett Reed) to perform with the prerecorded soundtrack of a DVD. The video imagery was created with the same alogrithmic processes as those used to compose the music.”

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Tomoko Nakai's Whirlpool for solo trombone and Macintosh requires the musician (Ted Foreman) to step through a series of computer processor settings, which dramatically alter the sound of his instrument. Marita Bolles' What Exit for chamber ensemble has the musicians accompanying computer generated interview fragments, remembered dreams and other memories. “Layers of voices take over the texture and eventually envelop the space,” explains Smith.

“Tristan Murail's richly complex L'esprit des Dunes tears the 11 musicians away from traditional performance practice by requiring microtonal intonation (pitches between the white and black notes of a piano) and complicated rhythmic execution,” says Smith. “The computer part is driven by a digital piano keyboard. The program (MAX/MSP) ‘listens’ for particular notes and responds by stepping through prerecorded electronic musical passages, which are equally complex. American ears may not be familiar with the sound but the effect is a fascinating marriage of acoustic and electronic imagery creating what might be described as sound wave sculptures.”

Several new School of Music faculty make their debut with the iChamber Players with this program: Elizabeth Buck, flute; Nancy Buck, viola; Andrew Campbell, piano; and Courtney LeBauer, violin. They will join returning members of the group: Lisa Dektor, flute; Robert Spring, clarinet; Martin Schuring, oboe; Ted Foreman, trombone; Thomas Landschoot, cello; Daniel Swaim, bass; and JB Smith, percussion.

The ISA is an interdisciplinary research center in the ASU Herberger College of Fine Arts. In collaboration with the ASU College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, as well as other disciplines at ASU, the ISA supports creation, research, development, presentation and education at the intersection of the arts and technology. For more information on the ISA, visit http://isa.asu.edu

Media Contact:
Mary Brennan
480-965-3587
mary.brennan@asu.edu

Endings and new beginnings the theme of film exhibition at ASU Art Museum

TEMPE, Ariz. - ASU Art Museum is proud to present Adam Chodzko: Limbo Land and A Place for 'The End,' the first solo museum exhibition of British artist Adam Chodzko's work in the United States. The exhibition will run Nov. 9, 2002 - Jan. 12, 2003.Chodzko was today named as a recipient of the 2002 Helen Hamlyn Award for creativity and innovation, one of the most prestigious awards available to B...

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Endings and new beginnings the theme of film exhibition at ASU Art Museum

October 15, 2002

TEMPE, Ariz. - ASU Art Museum is proud to present Adam Chodzko: Limbo Land and A Place for 'The End,' the first solo museum exhibition of British artist Adam Chodzko's work in the United States. The exhibition will run Nov. 9, 2002 - Jan. 12, 2003.

Chodzko was today named as a recipient of the 2002 Helen Hamlyn Award for creativity and innovation, one of the most prestigious awards available to British artists. He lives and works in Whitstable, Kent and London, and has developed an international reputation for his work, which delves into issues of reincarnation, afterlife and reinvention through subtle suggestion, rather than express explanation. His work has been exhibited at the Venice Biennale and elsewhere in Italy, as well as in Britain, Ireland, Greece, The Netherlands and New Zealand.

ASU Art Museum presents two of Chodzko's works in this exhibition: Limbo Land, a DVD/sound installation; and A Place for 'The End', a still photography/DVD installation. The works examine the theme of apparent conclusion and finality.

Exhibition curator John Spiak said that the works in Adam Chodzko: Limbo Land and A Place for 'The End,' allow the viewer to define or imagine an ending, or what may actually be a new beginning.
"Through sight, sound and image, Chodzko allows emotions to come forward, building possibilities of where we go from here and just what 'the end' may bring. Chodzko seems to posit that something happens to the mind and soul once the body has ceased to function," Spiak said.
"How memories are formed and what happens to these memories outside physical boundaries or 'frames' is another facet of this theme into which the artist inquires," he said.

A Place for 'The End' includes eight different final scenes of an imaginary film shot in eight locations throughout Birmingham, England. Chodzko offered each of eight participants the opportunity to choose their own location. Each participant was asked to select a site that would "frame" what might be the final scene of an imaginary film.

In Chodzko's film, the eight "endings" alternate with scenes of a woman talking intently on a telephone while pacing in a room high above Birmingham. Through the acted activities of the woman in the scene, Chodzko implies that the woman is experiencing an "ending."

Limbo Land includes audio of a sound artist as she searches through a diverse archive of recorded atmospheres, attempting to create a soundtrack - as requested by the artist - of "something about an ending" or "something having gone." She believes that her efforts have been unsuccessful, when in actuality she has created the soundtrack for this ending.

The video visually interprets the conclusion of a human life, while the soundtrack inadvertently created by the unidentified sound artist provides the audio. Sound and video merge, insinuating that there is a peaceful, yet uncertain transition between the cessation of human life and whatever happens next. Once again, physical locations become reference points for memory.

A free public reception from 7-9 p.m., Nov. 8, will launch Adam Chodzko: Limbo Land and A Place for 'The End.' The artist will present a gallery talk about his work at 7:30 p.m., Nov. 12, in the museum.

The ASU Art Museum is a division of The Katherine K. Herberger College of Fine Arts at Arizona State University. It is located on the southeast corner of Mill Avenue and 10th Street, Tempe. For more information, please call (480) 965-2787 or visit the museum online athttp://asuartmuseum.asu.edu. Download Full Image

When You Go:
Location: ASU Art Museum, Nelson Fine Arts Center, corner Mill Avenue and 10th Street, Tempe.
Date & Time: Adam Chodzko: Limbo Land and A Place for 'The End,' will run Nov. 9, 2002 - Jan. 12, 2003.
A free opening reception is scheduled for 7-9 p.m., Nov. 8.
The artist will present a gallery lecture at 7:30 p.m., Nov. 12.
Parking: Free parking is available in ASU Art Museum-marked spaces at the south end of Tempe Center, located at the NE corner of Mill Ave. and 10th St. Visitors using museum spaces must sign in at the front desk in the lobby of the Nelson Fine Arts Center. Free parking is also available on weekends and after 7 p.m. weeknights in Parking Structure #3 on Myrtle Avenue, Tempe.
Website: http://asuartmuseum.asu.edu
Cost: Free