Live sets by:
– Alex Carpenter (live visuals and sound) with James Ross (live sound)
– Chris Jordan (live visuals) with Bradford Reed (live sound)
Invited respondent/moderator:
– Andrea Monti
Suggested donation:
$ 7
Diapason
882 Third Avenue, between 32nd and 33rd Streets, 10th floor
BROOKLYN (Sunset Park)
(718) 499-5070
directions: D, N or R train to 36th Street in Brooklyn
OptoSonic Tea is a regular series of meetings dedicated to the convergence of live visuals with live sound which focuses on the visual component. These presentation-and-discussion meetings aim to explore different forms of live visuals (live video, live film, live slide projection and their variations and combinations) and the different ways they can come into interaction with live audio. Each evening features two different live visual artists or groups of artists who each perform a set with the live sound artists of their choice. The presentations are followed by an informal discussion about the artists’ practices over a cup of green tea. A third artist, from previous generations of visualists or related fields, is invited specifically to participate in this discussion so as to create a dialogue between current and past practices and provide different perspectives on the present and the future.
Organized by Katherine Liberovskaya and Ursula Scherrer
OptoSonic Tea is partly funded by the Experimental Television Center.
The Experimental Television Center’s Presentation Funds program is supported by the New York State Council on the Arts.
About the artists:
Alex Carpenter is an Australian artist and researcher living in New
York City. He has performed extensively as a soloist playing guitar,
keyboard and electric zither through a multi-amp and delay network he
calls the Live Audio Delay System, and has also independently produced
and coordinated a number of large-scale ensemble performance and
multi-media events under the moniker Music of Transparent Means.
Music of Transparent Means was Alex’s chief project in Australia from
2002 to 2007, initially providing a platform for his
meticulously-tuned wineglass inventions, then later incorporating
instruments such as prepared guitars, woodwind, strings, percussion
and brass, and featuring as many as 21 performers at a single time.
Alex’s most recent performance activity has centered on his own Live
Video Delay System, an extension of the audio system which employs
multiple cameras and extreme color isolation to facilitate a unique
looping and layering of live laser drawings. The system was first
tested at MELA Foundation in 2009, and continues to be shown on screen
and in performance internationally.
Alex has performed alongside artists such as Francisco Lopez (Madrid),
Will Guthrie (Melbourne), Kyle Bobby Dunn and Richard Lainhart (NYC),
and has produced several CD and DVD releases on his own label,
Vanished Records.
http://transparentmeans.net/
James Ross is a guitarist and composer living in Brooklyn, NY.
Originally from Pittsburgh, PA, he has studied guitar at the
University of Pittsburgh and the Mannes College of Music in New York
City. He is currently studying North Indian classical music and
composition with La Monte Young and Marian Zazeela.
A composer in a variety of genres, James has written music for
orchestral and chamber ensembles, as well as solo music for the guitar
and the zhongruan (a type of Chinese lute). In addition to scored
works, he has created electronic pieces and recordings of improvised
music.
Recent performances as a composer and performer on the electric
guitar, laptop and other instruments include sets at The Bell House; a
performance with Kyle Bobby Dunn at Issue Project Room; at Goodbye
Blue Monday with David Beardsley; providing live music for Katherine
Liberovskaya and Ursula Scherrer’s OptoSonic Tea series at Diapason
Gallery in Brooklyn; with video artist Alex Carpenter at The Tank in
Manhattan; and at Damrosch Park at Lincoln Center as part of the
guitar ensemble for Rhys Chatham’s “A Crimson Grail.â€
As a classical guitarist, James has performed as a soloist and
ensemble player throughout the Northeastern Unites States. He received
a Solo Recitalist Fellowship in 1992 from the Pennsylvania Council on
the Arts and won the 1993 Mannes College of Music Concerto
Competition, resulting in a performance of Joaquin Rodrigo’s “Fantasia
para un Gentilhombre,†at Symphony Space in New York City.
http://www.facebook.com/jrossmusic
http://soundcloud.com/jrossmusic
Chris Jordan explores the medium of light, movement, and time through the use of technology. His installations have appeared at the Moma, The New Museum, The Whitney, The Museum of Natural History, The Chelsea Museum, Times Square, numerous galleries and clubs; and the incidental spaces inbetween.
The common elements that define Chris’ work include explorations into memory, photography, film, interactivity, and projections. By examining the political and social implications technology has on us through a diversity of media, his work challenges the viewer to redefine perceptions of audience and performer.
In addition Chris teaches interactive design at Baruch College and NYU; and organizes T-Minus, G33kXmas, rooftop movies, and visualist salons in New York City.
Bradford Reed is a Brooklyn based composer, performer and producer who fights and tames the idiosyncrasies of the pencilina, an original instrument of his own design and construction. He played with King Missile III (and produced 4 of their records) and in the Blue Man Group’s original band. He’s composed for film and television including the music for Superjail! on Adult Swim and is currently working on the score for Ugly Americans the new hit series on Comedy Central, an album of his own music and playing the drums with Zach Layton in their new project Minerals. More info at pencilina.com
Andrea Monti is an Italian artist and curator, living and working in Brooklyn, NY.
His work ranges from mixed-media collages to music for films and video-installations.
In 2005, he was one of the founders of the Lucca Film Festival, annual event in Italy focused on avant-garde and experimental cinema, where he presented over the years large retrospectives of works by Stephen Dwoskin, Kenneth Anger, Michael Snow, Guy Debord, Christian Lebrat, and others.
Recently, he has been curating film series, exhibitions and video-programs for Anthology Film Archives, FIAF (French Institute), Italian Cultural Institute, White Box Gallery and Warhol Museum (Pittsburgh).
His current projects include Microscope Gallery, a new art space in Brooklyn devoted to film, video, sound, and other time-based arts (www.microscopegallery.com)