IMPROBABLOG

web of sound and light

2011-12-28T16:20:00.000-06:00

i've just returned from northwest spain, where i was invited to conduct a series of sound art workshops and create a special edition of sonic fabric. please see the sonic fabric news page for more info.

OM = C# 136.1 Hz

2011-09-13T17:06:00.003-05:00

based on an image from The World Is Sound: Nada Brahma: Music and the Landscape of Consciousness, by Joachim-Ernst Berendt

the sonic fabric custom editions crowdsourcing campaign thru usa projects ended successfully, having raised enough funds to weave a 125 yard batch of fabric. the cidade da cultura de galicia will be receiving a 30-yard edition containing a blend of music from this unique region of spain.

i will also be weaving 40 yards containing only a single note - C# 136.1Hz. this tone is the base note of the sitar and tamboura, and is the note upon which tibetan monks have been basing the OM chant for thousands of years. it is considered by many in indian and tibetan cultures to be the primordial sound of the universe.

it is not too late to have a hand in the making of this very special custom edition - by purchasing yardage, you are making this project possible. please visit the SHOP page for details.

please allow me to weave you a small edition of custom sonic fabric

2011-07-14T19:56:00.000-05:00

from now until august 30th, donors to my crowdsourcing endeavor through USA projects can receive 20 yards of sonic fabric - custom recorded with the sounds of your choosing - for a tax-deductible contribution.

improvisation for flute and ruben's tube

2011-07-01T21:03:00.000-05:00

art of interconnectedness - goethe's game

2011-07-01T20:57:00.002-05:00

goethe's game (the mesa), a conceptual artwork based on 1970's "booby trap" toy from alyce santoro on Vimeo.

the synergetic omni-solution launch in marfa, texas

2011-05-17T13:26:00.000-05:00

The launch weekend hosted by ballroom marfa saw a number of long-held visions realized. i gave a demonstration on the physics of sound using a ruben's tube (video forthcoming), scholars/border historians enrique and ruby madrid of redford, texas taught the art of quantum tortilla making, i served universal raisin cake baked in a solar oven, i gave a sailing lesson for desert dwellers (video forthcoming), and debuted a new piece - GOETHE'S GAME, an enlarged version of a childhood toy - exhibited with hand-thrown ceramic pieces made by mike bianco.

i spoke about the project on marfa public radio, and wrote an article published in waging nonviolence: EVERYONE AS ACTIVIST: THE SYNERGETIC OMNI-SOLUTION.

the synergetic omni-solution - entry to the buckminster fuller challenge

2011-02-15T11:41:00.000-06:00

for several years i have been singing the praises of the buckminster fuller challenge but i had yet to submit an entry until now. a $100,000 prize is awarded to a person or team who devises a simple, efficient solution to a complex problem facing society and our planet. bucky referred to such ideas as "trimtabs", named for the tiny rudder on a large ship that is ultimately responsible for precise steering. there's much more on my entry, entitled the synergetic omni-solution, at the buckminster fuller challenge idea index.

texas biennial 2011

2011-01-21T19:04:00.000-06:00

in 2003, i got a chance to show louise bourgeois some of my work. she said, "what does it DO?" and i said, "it's to be used in different kind of rituals." and she said, "so DO A RITUAL!". now i get my chance...

i couldn't be more delighted to be ballroom marfa's featured artist for the texas biennial. i'll be giving demonstrations of the philosoprops, leading discussions, and creating installations around town during the weekend of april 29 thru may 1, 2011. hope you can join us.

the wikileaks samba

2011-01-13T21:14:00.000-06:00

artist as accidental activist

2010-11-17T10:41:00.001-06:00

my article artist as accidental activist on artist-as-social-sculptor and sustainability in the arts is now available in the australian network for arts and technology's filter magazine issue number 75 - habitats for public engagement.

bubble up: the music video

2010-07-13T10:58:00.000-05:00

soundwave: green sound: change of plan

2010-07-06T16:10:00.000-05:00

in light of the state of the environment and the clear effect of humanity's impact on it, i can no longer justify traveling long distances to perform for just a few hours. instead of appearing live at this weekend's "soundwave: green sound" festival, i offer you this special virtual presentation.

makers: DIY agents of social change

2010-05-29T11:13:00.000-05:00

i've got another article published at truthout. this one is called makers: DIY agents of social change" and it's very much inspired by joseph beuys' concept of "social sculpture".

hydroponic dress and curtain

2010-05-24T08:35:00.000-05:00

the hydroponic dress and curtain were debuted at my first-ever art opening at as220 in providence, rhode island back in 1995. i used a kind of colored gelatinous hydroponic soil in the pockets, and made fruit juice gelatin to match.

how to cultivate synchronicity and inspiration

2010-04-07T12:19:00.000-05:00

i was just asked an excellent question by a student in my friend elizabeth demaray's advanced sculpture class at rutger's university - how can one best cultivate a sense of connectedness and synchronicity in life and work?

this has got to be one of the Ultimate Questions. for the answer, i can only offer clues, since the methods for achieving this are bound to vary with every individual.

clues:

1. the "subtle reality technologies" of shamans and holy people. in particular, i have studied some of the profoundly elegant rituals of tibetan buddhists and peruvian shamans. symbolic acts are ways to connect with invisible, subtle dimensions that are not immediately accessible to the "rational" mind. our culture with its emphasis on scientific analysis and insistence on the rational and quantifiable neglects and discounts all parts of reality that do not "make sense". however, the parts of reality that do not make rational sense are the very parts that are engaged in the effective making and appreciating of all acts of creativity - this is why art and music (and love, intuition, inspiration, etc) "move" us. as humans, we crave a sense of connectedness - many people use and abuse substances in the quest to achieve non-ordinary states of consciousness. these states are available to us all via:
2. meditation, participating in brainstorms, improvisational musical ensembles, other collaborative acts of creativity.
3.experiencing nature and consciously connecting with the overwhelming sense of the miraculousness, utter improbability of, and ultimate creative power of it.
4. the writings of joann wolfgang von goethe ("goethe's way of science" and "the wholeness of nature") and his techniques for cultivating intuitive senses.
5. art and writing of joseph beuys and the concept of "social sculpture".
6. radionics. please see duncan laurie's work, and my interview at his website.

to name a few...

interviewed by duncan laurie

2010-04-04T21:28:00.000-05:00

i'm really honored to have thetranscript of an interview with duncan laurie, author of the secret art (one of my favorite books), published on his website.

radionics in my work

2010-04-03T11:37:00.000-05:00

i'm honored to have had a veritable field guide to my work published in the form of an essay published on the website of duncan laurie, author of one of my favorite books,the secret art.

change is dead, long live change

2010-03-25T15:43:00.001-05:00

please visit truthout.org to read my article about the climate change debate, "change is dead, long live change".

global OM project

2009-12-29T16:57:00.003-06:00

(please click the image to enlarge. can be printed out, cut along dotted line, and folded into a small book)

at the turn of the millennium, i tried to muster up interest in a global jam session. anyone interested in trying again this year? please howl your good vibes at the full moon for 5 minutes starting at 11:55pm, wherever you are...

sonic fabric joseph beuys hat

2009-11-30T09:35:00.000-06:00

i have long been striving to create the perfect piece of radionic headgear. the sonic fabric fedora could well be IT. and it's a multiple! if only joseph beuys were still around. this one's for you, joe...

space 414 in brooklyn

2009-10-26T07:29:00.000-05:00

the sonic fabric voidness dress, several ice-cream cone buckyballs (made from 800 cones generously donated by the joy ice cream cone company), and the short film "how to make an ice-cream cone buckyball" will be on exhibit at space 414 in red hook brooklyn until december 22.

shows in new york city

2009-10-25T09:51:00.001-05:00

i've got work in two shows in new york city this weekend. artists who use text to say nice things will be up thru tomorrow, but the offering show at space 414 in red hook brooklyn will be up thru november.

third eye sunglasses

2009-05-14T11:20:00.001-05:00

exhibition in denmark

2009-05-05T09:25:00.000-05:00

the "voidness dress" will be appearing at the "fabric for thought - sustainable fashion" exhibition at koldinghus in denmark from may 7 until sept 6.

phish "musical suit" at madison museum

2009-05-03T09:15:00.000-05:00

the sonic fabric dress i made for jon fishman to wear and play on stage during a 2004 phish show in vegas is currently on display at the madison museum of contemporary art. "return to funtion" will be up until aug 24, 2009.

subtle reality technologies

2009-02-16T13:32:00.000-06:00

EVERYONE IS AN ARTIST

As our society collectively awakens to the realization that it must devise ways to stem the hemorrhaging caused by years of denial and excess, and as the DIY (do-it-yourself) movement becomes proportionally more popular, I am constantly reminded of Joseph Beuys’ words “Everyone Is An Artist”. Beuys believed strongly, not that everyone should make (so-called) fine art, but that everyone can live a richer and more meaningful life by infusing any vocation or action with his or her own personal creativity.

Beuys believed that personal creativity could be cultivated and honed by reconnecting with nature, and by developing a more intimate relationship with it. He believed that individuals, as well as our entire culture could be healed by returning to a simpler way of life, and by becoming more attuned to the subtle, ineffable forces of the ecosystem we inhabit

EVERYONE IS A SHAMAN

Some call one who consciously connects to, communicates with, and elaborates on the intangible a shaman. Some called Joseph Beuys that. Most just called him an artist. Shamans, artists, cooks, gardeners, scientists, inventors and all others who bring imaginary things out of the realm of the intangible to help give them form could benefit from enhanced access to the mysterious force of inspiration. In this sense, everyone is a shaman as well.

And as people begin to seek ways to “do it themselves” they are exercising a form of personal creativity that has been largely neglected in our culture for far too long. A basic fact of existence that has been all but forgotten is that human happiness and the sense of freedom (the pursuits of which are among our so-called inalienable rights) depend largely on the ability to express personal creativity (Beuys also famously said, “To make people free is the aim of art. Therefore art for me is the science of freedom”).

THE JOY OF FLUXUS

I believe that the reshuffling of our collective deck, while discomfiting at times, will ultimately result in an overall increase in happiness as people come to realize that we were misguided in relating the ravenous, mindless accumulation of stuff to personal joy, and as we begin to experience instead the sense of simple, profound satisfaction that comes from planting a seed, sewing on a button, or cooking a meal from scratch.

AUTONOMY AS RADICAL ACT

Consciously creative types (“makers” as they have come to be known) are returning to the sort of DIY approach to the creating and sharing of their work that the fluxus artists of the 1960’s and 70’s pioneered – only now we have the internet. Websites, blogs, and social networks have made the white box/velvet rope gallery mentality virtually obsolete - now everyone has the same access to the same art and artists, from the comfort and privacy of their own homes. Sculptors can create installations in a basement, musicians can give concerts in their living rooms, writers can publish in an instant – and everything can be shared with millions of people across the planet.

DIGITAL PIONEERING

For many years, I have been interested in the internet as a by-product of the fundamental human longing to connect. The telegraph, telephone, and television are all apparatus devised to facilitate communication. The internet takes it all a step further – now we are able to pool resources, share information, and create tangible links. In 1998 I read a brilliant article on the subject by Howard Rheingold, an early internet researcher and pioneer, in the Institute of Noetic Sciences newsletter. In the article, called Thinking About Thinking About Technology
Mr. Rheingold posits that for new technology to develop into tools for enhancement of creativity and “mind amplification” as opposed to becoming merely a source of “disinfotainment” we must develop a philosophical framework within which it can evolve. That was 11 years ago. Now we know that technology has become everything that we are - enriching and distracting, elegant and dangerous, brilliant and ridiculous.

Shortly after reading Mr. Rheingold’s article, I became a member of “Brainstorms” a private experimental virtual community he was starting. I wanted to be among the early pioneers of cyberspace as a cultural phenomenon. The platform Brainstorms has run on since its inception acts very much like a modern blog. I was extremely excited and intrigued by the prospect that a written essay, much like this one, could have links, sound, and image files built right in.

Technology has arrived at a point in its evolution when it is exceptionally easy for the maker to direct all aspects of his or her own creation, from inception to publication, marketing, and dissemination. From Facebook, MySpace, and Flickr to Ebay and YouTube, it is an exciting moment for the DIY innovator.

INTERNET AS CAVE WALL

Technologies for the amplification and enhancement of imagination and conscious intent have existed in every aspect of human culture at least since the first cave painting was created. The development of modern western civilization’s fanatic rejection of the unquantifiable has, in many ways, done us a great disservice. I believe that a reenchantment with the intangible and an open minded acceptance of alternative modes of perception will make it possible for humanity to emerge from this period of economic, environmental, and social reevaluation into a more peaceful and contented era.

WHERE YOU CAN FIND ME

Electronic Shamanism at InterAccess Electronic Media Arts Center in Toronto ‘til March 7
Philosoprops on Supermarket
New Videos on Youtube:
How to Explain Quantum Physics to a Dead Hare
Somewhere Sutra
Alyce's artwork on Flickr
Improbable Projects on MySpace

how to explain quantum physics to a dead hare

2009-02-07T08:54:00.000-06:00

somewhere sutra

2009-02-01T08:44:00.000-06:00

daily constitutional's soundcast

2009-01-31T18:20:00.000-06:00

my sound piece "revolution" is currently featured on SoundCast.

electronic shamanism

2009-01-23T08:33:00.000-06:00

i'm delighted to have a couple of pieces in a show opening tonight at interaccess arts in toronto.

some assembly required

2009-01-12T12:51:00.000-06:00

between stations, sound collages for sonic fabric, is the first feature of 2009 on the some assembly required blog! there's also a track from the album on this week's some assembly required podcast.

philosoprops as presents

2008-12-02T15:17:00.000-06:00

if you are looking for a unique gift this holiday season, may i humbly suggest a small investment in art? a few of my philosoprops are available through supermarket, including the homeopathic remedies for the 5 ills of society and the superhero-quality good-vibe-emitting sonic fabric tie.

samstag museum

2008-10-28T15:43:00.000-05:00

You are invited to join the Samstag Museum of Art and the Australian Network for Art and Technology to launch CODED CLOTH, an exhibition of 'interactive' textiles. Curated by Dr Melinda Rackham, Executive Director of the Australian Network for Art and Technology.

The exhibition will open on Wednesday 29 October 2008 6-8 pm, and runs from 30 October - 19 December 2008

the imaginative qualities of actual things

2008-08-20T15:31:00.000-05:00

the imaginative qualities of actual things opens at the price tower, frank lloyd wright's only skyscraper (inspired by a tree) tomorrow evening near tulsa, oklahoma. the sonic fabric silence dress will be part of the exhibition.

the green

2008-07-22T08:23:00.001-05:00

the sundance channel's "the green" blog has posted an update as to what i've been up to during the year since the "create" episode of "big ideas for a small planet" aired.

it isn't easy (being green)

2008-07-17T19:23:00.000-05:00

i'll have a piece in this show about what it means to be green.

IT ISN'T EASY, exit art, 475 10th ave, nyc, ny
opening july 24th, running 'til aug 28th 2008

sonic fabric necktie

2008-07-09T19:40:00.000-05:00

the idea behind the tie is that the wearer becomes a beacon for other-dimensional, intangible, subtle forces of good...much in the manner of a superhero. only this part of the superhero garb can be worn on the outside in the most conservative environment without detection!

the fabric factory

2008-06-24T17:39:00.000-05:00

the art of the musical score

2008-06-17T18:56:00.000-05:00

i'm very pleased to be part of this show at the barcelona museum of contemporary art.

CHOOSE DETERMINISM

2008-05-11T20:12:00.000-05:00

i have a new blog where i will feature a philosoprop, one per week (or so). i will expound upon the piece and its origins, and may frequently digress. while the piece's conceptual spirit may be accessible in digitized form, its tangible, 3D incarnation will also be made available for acquisition by those who so desire. refreshments will be served.

WFMU

2008-04-20T21:41:00.000-05:00

i was fortunate to have grown up within frequency range of this wildly diverse and extremely inspiring station as a fledgling experimental musician. what a kick that some tracks from between stations got played on april 17, 2008 on WFMU's "strength through failure" with fabio.

please help tibet

2008-03-18T17:21:00.001-05:00

the tibetan people need our support immediately.
please sign the aavaz petition.

www.savetibet.org

evolution/revolution

2008-02-21T13:29:00.000-06:00

i've got a couple of pieces in the "evolution/revolution" show at the RISD museum in providence, including "the silence dress": infused with sound, but with a patch of ultimate voidness.

image above courtesy of museum of art, rhode island school of design. photography by eric gould.

bjork dress

2008-02-13T17:59:00.000-06:00

i was recently asked by people magazine to create a dress that bjork could, hypothetically, wear to the grammy awards. this pic appeared in the 2/6/08 "hollywood daily" issue of people.

between stations CD

2008-02-06T18:31:00.000-06:00

limited-edition copies of the between stations cd (the 14 music/sound collages recorded onto cassette tape before it is woven into sonic fabric) in one-of-a-kind sonic fabric sleeves are now available for $22 including shipping. please email for details.

also available for order or download through cdbaby.

M-PEACH NOW

2007-12-15T13:51:00.000-06:00

this administration must be held accountable for its blatant lies and other heinous crimes. my M-PEACH image, as well as good ol' DUMP W (upside down) are available on t-shirts and stickers at cafepress.com. the graphics themselves (copyleft) are available through me free of charge for use in whatever capacity you wish.

sonic sailboat sails at mcasd

2007-11-26T16:29:00.000-06:00

as a kid, i raced sailboats every weekend of every summer of my life. to me, racing sailboats fulfilled the same sorts of needs that going to chruch seemed to fill for others. through it, i developed a sense of community, ritual, and communion with forces greater than myself. my sonic fabric project was inspired by the small strands of cassette tape we used as tell-tails, or wind indicators. i recall imagining that, if the wind hit the tell-tails just the right way, i'd be able to hear music wafting off onto the breeze. years later i learned about tibetan prayer flags, small squares of fabric inscribed with images of mantras, or sacred sounds. this reminded me of the tell-tails, and i was immediately inspired to create a fabric woven from potential sound. to me, sails are the ultimate prayer flags. after years in the development and experimentation stages, i'm so grateful to have had the opportunity to finally create a set of sails made of sonic fabric. the installation is currently on view at the san diego museum of contemporary art, where it will remain until may 2008.

next, i'd like to create a set for an america's cup yacht, or an old wooden herreshoff.

triangle x

2007-10-17T11:15:00.000-05:00

a new short film from the center for the improbable and (im)permacultural research.
it's another one inspired by buckminster fuller:

buckminster fuller challenge

2007-09-30T11:11:00.000-05:00

the buckminster fuller institute is offering a $100,000 prize for the simplest possible idea that has the potential to affect the greatest global change for the better in the shortest period of time. i've been polling friends, and so far we've come up with a few ideas: a harmonica that only plays OM (hmmm...maybe i oughta revive my 1998 "campaign to change the dial-tone to OM"...?), listening to banjo music, having chickens around, forming a non-government, non-corporate organization to check-and-balance the government, making an animated movie to post on youtube that somehow tries to convince people that living absolutely for THIS LIFE, and not some promise of greener pastures later, is the key to stemming the tide of all manner of holy zeal (hmmm...didn't john lennon write a song about this??).

the bottom line is that just by THINKING about the answer to the problem, we're helping to solve the problem. kudos to the bfi for being the catalyst...

improbable

2007-07-26T21:34:00.000-05:00

dear friends, several small developments to report:

i am, admittedly, somewhat relieved to announce that the center for the obvious, big bend chapter, is now defunct.
"the center for the improbable and (im)permacultural research, ltd" has sprung up, at higher elevation, in the form of a beige 1970 school bus, in its stead.

sonic fabric, the audible textile inspired by sailing and tibetan prayer flags, continues to enjoy it's life outside the confines of my intentions or expectations. as part of an effort to foster its independence, i have posted two short videos on youtubethat i hope will help clarify things.

if you have not already, i hope you will take a moment to experience the solo guitar music of julian mock (collaborator on several sound, video, and gardening projects), now available on itunes and cdbaby.

and, finally, upcoming shows, all of which contain pieces made from sonic fabric
(greater detail forthcoming as dates approach):

in los angeles:
"do it now: live green"
ben maltz gallery, otis college of art and design
aug 25 through oct 20

in the uk:
"dott07: our cyborg futures: me or machines?"
discovery museum, newcastle upon tyne
aug 10 through oct 28

in san diego:
"soundwaves"
san diego museum of contemporary art
sept 23 through may 4, 2008

thanks, as always.

millions against monsanto

2007-05-05T15:53:00.000-05:00

i was over at david byrne's blog the other day, already riled up about the disappearing bee situation, and read his post about possible links to gmo crops and related pesticides. my hair stood on end. one thing lead to another, and before too long i found myself sending irate letters to congress and scathing faxes to monsanto.

how to make an ice-cream cone buckyball

2007-02-21T23:22:00.000-06:00

philosoprop shop sale

2007-02-06T15:21:00.000-06:00

in celebration of the grand opening of the center for the obvious, big bend branch, i am hosting $10 cheap art & propaganda sale. please visit the virtual shoppe to see the work, &/or email me for details.

gargles in the rat-race choir

2007-01-12T00:58:00.000-06:00

as genius dylan lyrics go, for me "gargles in the rat-race choir" is one of the most outstanding. from the uncannily-pertinent song "it's alright ma", it's a line that i believe speaks directly to the times at hand.

it just so happened that my studio at blue mountain center this past fall contained a turntable that would make every record it tried to play skip in strangely perfect loops. i set about recording the loops, then layered them to create a collage. i also filmed the turntable itself spinning around and around using an old-fashioned super-8 film camera...the whole experience seemed to be the perfect metaphor for current events, especially given that the album containing the song ("bringing it all back home") was originally released in 1965. i added some video, digitized the film, and knitted it all together to create this little movie: gargles in the rat-race choir.

anyhow, times being what they are, i felt compelled to share it.
i hope you'll enjoy.

ps: for anyone interested, the original lyrics to the song "it's alright ma" by bob dylan can be found here.

lone star

2006-12-22T20:45:00.001-06:00

some follow a star to the east, some to the west...

sending out wishes for peace on earth (and everywhere) from far west texas this holiday season.

5,000 feet

2006-07-29T18:46:00.000-05:00

friends, i am writing you now from the high desert of west texas. the pull could be resisted no longer...i decided quite suddenly to phase out of my northeastern existence, and start a new chapter out here in a small mountain town near the big bend. fort davis, texas is 20 miles from marfa, texas, art enclave in the desert, where the chinati foundation, started by donald judd, is. i've rented two small somewhat ramshackle adobes in the center of town, one for living, one for working. my new studio feels really good. i can take breaks by sitting in the rocking chair on the porch, watching the thunderheads build behind the organ pipe-like mountain of stones that fort davis is nestled in beneath.

risd biennial

2006-06-12T19:21:00.000-05:00

the risd biennial (curated by robert storr of the venice biennale) opens this thursday night, from 6 to 9 pm, at exit art. exit art is located on 10th avenue near 36th st in manhattan. included in the show will be a sonic dress with pancho (constructed by my mom, jeannette santoro), a sonic parasol, and a freshly-made string of flags with orange doughnut appliques. i daresay, it's my best shaman-superhero ensemble yet...

Haeckel's Dream

2006-04-15T19:16:00.000-05:00

in the summer of 2004 i was an artist-in-residence at acadia park in maine. every day i'd walk out to an island that could only be reached at low tide. one afternoon i found a dead jellyfish stranded on the rocks, and was quite thrilled to have such a beautiful specimen to draw from. during my walk the next day i went back to the same spot to see if perhaps i'd be lucky enough to find another. and sure enough, there was one. and then i noticed another. then five more. suddenly exuberance turned to serious concern. what was happening? why were these beautiful creatures dying in droves? i looked out at the water. an onshore breeze. this combined with the rapidly outgoing tide made the answer to my question obvious. jellyfish are planktonic...they cannot maneuver or navigate. they live and die at the mercy of the elements. at sea they have no need to steer...they just drift. suddenly i noticed a jellyfish, still swimming, in shallow water. i was thrilled. i sat down on a rock and got out my sketchbook to draw. and then i realized that the tide was full of gorgeous, ornate, burgundy-pink jellyfish...tens of them...about to meet their end. it became apparent that i was in the midst of a phemonenon. i ran home to get the super 8 movie camera. there was no time to spare...the tide would be fully out within the hour. i shot until i ran out of film. but while i was filming i had the sensation that my education in marine biology and scientific illustration had prepared me for just such a moment...the chance to capture a rare glimpse into something magical and mysterious, something beautiful and tragic, happening at the harsh, churning, intense interface of land and sea.

named for ernst haeckel, 19th century biologist/philosopher/illustrator, haeckel's dream is an existential 1950's-esque psychedelic nature documentary. copied to digital format from black-and-white super 8 film.

with soundtrack "doughnuts of sound"
by alyce santoro
with tracks by
bill walker on viola
julianne carney on violin
marc goff on didgeridoo
alyce santoro on flute

jellyfish in the desert

2006-04-08T14:10:00.000-05:00

last year i spent some time in the high desert of west texas. being such a water person, never in a million years would i have imagined that i'd fall in so deeply in love with the desert, or feel so completely and utterly at home there. it was the strangest thing...being in the desert was like being in one of those dreams where you're standing at the bottom of the ocean...you're floating in the peaceful, infinite abyss...but you can breathe...

ever since, i've been yearning to go back, feeling inspired by an urgency to make work that expresses this sensation, bringing the desert and the ocean together. so when i learned about andrea zittel's high desert test sites in the high desert of joshua tree california, i jumped at the chance to apply. i proposed to construct a piece of buckminster fuller-inspired quasi oceanographic-desert research equipment especially for the spot. at the same time, i noticed a call-to-artists for a film festival happening the same weekend in joshua tree. so i applied for that too, with a plan to show the jellyfish movie i shot in acadia park in maine two summers ago. i wanted more than anything to see these jellyfish swimming in the desert, against the black starlit sky (like a phosphorescent sea...). well, the sculpture was rejected, the film accepted. and then, by a serendipitous turn of events, quinn, curator of orion's shorts, the film festival, and i became pals via email, and now it looks like i'll be putting some sculpture in another show she's having. i don't think it'll be the research equipment thing, though...thinkin' strings of tell-tail thangkas, and piles of ice-cream cone buckyballs...

the upshot of all this is it looks like i'll be making a road-trip out west at the end of the month, back to the desert. and i couldn't be more thrilled.

snow bocci

2006-03-07T07:38:00.000-06:00

a month in the woods did wonders for me.

cone-shaped universe?

2006-02-24T08:55:00.000-06:00

i believe the shape of the universe is conical. here at vermont studio center (where i'm feeling fortunate to be a fellow for the month), i've been making maps about my theory using ice-cream cones.

the worst horse

2006-01-19T17:22:00.000-06:00

one day, out of the blue, i get an email from this guy rod of the worst horse ("when it comes to Buddhist practice, it may not be such a bad thing to be the worst horse. After all, the best horses have the least to gain: they're already the best. The so-called worst horses, on the other hand, will undergo the most transformation, the most improvement, if they stick with it." - from the worst horse website). rod had stumbled upon my work while googling the word "thangka", and asked if i'd be willing to answer a few questions as a sort of interview via email, and i said sure.

when the questions arrived, i read them, then sat at my desk for quite some time with my head in my hands, weeping. i was just so astounded that my work had evoked such thoughtful questions, that someone was so interested, that someone really understood. the questions were proof that the work was saying what i hoped it would say. affirmation that the work was...working. the answers, to me, felt extraneous. i went on marveling at the questions themselves, savoring them, for a long time, before answering.

http://theworsthorse.com/alyce.html

science & the city

2006-01-15T15:50:00.000-06:00

there's a lovely article/interview here at the webzine of the ny academy of sciences about sonic fabric and my other work.

there's also a podcast of the lecture i gave two wednesdays ago for dorkbot.

240 radio towers

2005-12-19T10:12:00.000-06:00

i spent my birthday in 1994 at the art brut museum in lausanne, switzerland. at the time, i hardly considered myself an artist. i had just finished scientific illustration school and given up my job as a research assistant in marine biology to move to france with my new husband (an aside: though we're still great friends, jean-paul and i have since been divorced...three years ago exactly, today, in fact...). i always had this longing to make art about science, and felt that all i'd learned at risd had put me on the right track, but my work hadn't coalesced into something yet. anyway, there i was at this phenomenal museum of works by "untrained artists". i could hardly catch my breath. i took copious notes, and absorbed everything like a sponge. later i based much of the content of my little booklet "EVOLUTION OF AN ARTIST" on what i learned that day.

here it is over 12 years later, and i was coming in here this morning to post one of my latest drawings. i was going to preface the post by saying that these new drawings feel familiarly, comfortably obsessive, like when i used to do stipple renderings of skate egg cases with a rapidograph. only instead of little dots, i'm drawing radio towers. hundreds of them. then i remembered some drawings i saw at the musee d'art brut, and dug through my files to find a postcard of some work done in 1939 by eugene gabritschievsky. i remembered how moved i'd been by his astounding, tiny, repetitious drawings of creatures. then i googled him and found out that Gabritschevsky was a pretty well-known biologist and geneticist before he was institutionalized for schizophrenia, where he created over 5,000 drawings. In his bio (link above) it says that "Gabritschevsky feels that the unexpected and the haphazard in art as well as in science are the basis of knowledge."

wow. i couldn't agree more.

i did this drawing while i was in court waiting my turn to be tried for the stickercrime. it's on some fabulous "dupont explosives" graph paper given to me by a friend whose dad used to be an explosives engineer (that friend, a crazybrilliant "untrained artist" in his own right, disappeared eight years ago today on a tiny sailboat in the north atlantic).

upsidedown LIFE follow-up

2005-12-05T21:43:00.000-06:00

just a quick little follow-up on the upsidedown LIFE incident...

the hearing was held yesterday morning at 100 center st, the manhattan criminal court. i was wearing an upsidedown LIFE t-shrit and had pics of the "crime scene" on hand for reference. i had a chance to describe the situation to the legal aid lawyer who was assigned to my case prior to going before the judge, and he immediately wanted to know about the meaning of the sticker (content really does seem to matter...which, to my mind, brings up freedom of speech issues, but that's a whole other issue...). he classified it as "non-specific philosophical humor", which i was satisfied with. once before the judge, i was charged with possession of a "graffiti implement", but in my research i discovered that graffiti implements are specifically defined as spray paint, wide-nibbed markers, and etching powder. the lawyer and the judge and the DA guys ("the people") argued back and forth a bit (not without smirking, i might add). things mentioned: it was my first offense, there were already other markings on the pole, i had already spent 7 hours in jail, the nature of my message was non-commercial and apolitical (sort of...). at first they were going to let me off with an ACD ("adjournment on contemplation of dismissal"...my case dropped and my prints destroyed if i manage not to get arrested again for 6 months to a year) and one day of community service, but the lawyer managed to eliminate the community service and get me out without even having to pay a court fee (i was actually kind of looking forward to seeing what they had in mind for community service...working an extra day at the soup kitchen? planting flowers in a park? or scraping off other people's stickers...that would have sucked...).

i never needed to mention it to the judge, but i found it rather good omen to have come across this stuck to a pole on my way to the courthouse.

now if only all the goddamn politicians would go arrest themselves...

providence

2005-11-10T09:42:00.000-06:00

when i was a kid, sailing around narragansett bay with my folks, i dreamed of one day living in a place called the "ocean state". then i did, for 12 years.

damn, the coffee's good here.

i have a small piece included in liz keithline's LOST HOUSE/"ourchitecture" project, which opens this saturday november 12th from 5 to 7 at the newport art museum. i will be at the opening, and would love to see you there.

wooster collective

2005-11-08T14:12:00.000-06:00

so flattered...the jail/upsidedown LIFE story got published here at woostercollective.com.

night in jail/upsidedown LIFE story

2005-11-05T09:46:00.000-06:00

Last night was one of those glorious crystal clear autumn evenings in New York City. I got off the F train bound from Brooklyn and wandered up First Avenue, past a few bustling punky-hipster bars, past the tiny dj booth/storefront (what IS that place anyway??), past a multitude of pizzerias, taquerias, and laundromats, and past the row of bizarrely-decorated (disco balls, chili pepper lights, Christmas garland) cheap Indian restaurants. One of the Indian markets had moved it's wares out onto the sidewalk, and I stopped to admire tables stacked with bags of spices, teas, dried beans, candy-coated fennel seeds, and dried fruits. It made me happy to be a New Yorker, where I could stumble upon orange flower water, black sesame seeds, and homemade mango chutney on a street corner.

After a lovely little meeting with some friends at a bar on Second Ave, I was meandering back to the train while keeping an eye out for appropriate spots to place a few of my upsidedown LIFE stickers. I'm always on the look-out for those little gems, spots that already have some renegade markings in spray-paint or stickers, where the blocky red upsidedown LIFE might serve to complement an already-evolving composition. That's the addiction for me with graffiti...it's like a musical improvisation, everyone playing off the notes that others add.

Sometimes you get to know a local player, and relationships form. For example, there's someone who does a spray-paint stencil of Bush's head with the circle-slash "not" symbol around it, and whenever I spot one I almost always stick one of my DUMP W (upsidedown) stickers nearby. Here in Brooklyn, someone with a sticker the exact same size as my DUMP W ones (please see dumpw.com for more on this), only with a black background (oooh...sinister...) and a large white W with the words "the president" underneath, has been sticking their sticker OVER my sticker!! And I couldn't be more thrilled. There's actually a Bush supporter out there who not only GETS the humor, they’re actually taking the time to engage in the game with me.

In the case of the upsidedown LIFE, there's one sticker in particular, a similarly-sized one only with a white background and blue block letters that say ALIFE, that I always try to get next to. I had no idea what the meaning of ALIFE was until just now while doing some research for this little missive. When googling ALIFE, this is what I discovered:

"Artificial Life is a field of scientific study that attempts to model living biological systems through complex algorithms. Scientists use these models to test and experiment with a multitude of factors on the behavior of the systems.

We artists here at Fusebox see these algorithms as a starting point for a new artistic exploration where the interactivity is not only between the user and the computer program but within the computer system itself. We are just beginning to explore. Enjoy."

alife.fusebox.com

How wonderful!

So last night I was strolling along and spotted the ALIFE tag at the base of a light pole (at the southwest corner of Second Ave and Third St. to be exact). I took a moment to contemplate placement, then struck. Just then I noticed what seemed to be an off-duty cab and three motley-looking cabbies eyeing me. One moved closer and said with an accusatory tone in the manner of one who is accustomed to dealing with fourth graders, "What did you just do?" And I said cheerily, but not entirely without suspicion, "I put a sticker on this light pole. Wanna see?" and handed him one of the remaining stickers. The man said, again, with more sternness than seemed necessary "What does it MEAN?" Well, you know me...I'm always more than happy to expound (often at excruciatingly great length) upon the deep philosophical meaning behind my work. And so I replied, "It's like the logo on LIFE magazine. I usually place it where there's already some nice graffiti going on. I feel like it ties it together somehow." And the man said, as if I hadn't revealed something that would make my true criminal nature clearer in his mind, "BUT WHY DID YOU PUT IT UPSIDE DOWN?"

(Please click here for photos of the crime scene at hand and other places where LIFE upsidedown has appeared)

By now of course I realized I was in some kind of trouble. But I was still trying to gauge just how much. I felt like I was still ahead of the game...the officer was asking some excellent questions...the sticker was indeed working it's magic as a "philosoprop"...and I felt that before long the man would come to appreciate the concept, at least enough to let me off the hook.

Then the woman officer said, "We're going to have to arrest you." And I said, "Seriously!? For putting a sticker on a pole?" And she said, "That's the law, and it's our job to enforce it." Then she took my bag, and handcuffed me. I was dumbfounded. I suggested that perhaps just making me pull the sticker off the pole and promise not to do it again would be sufficient punishment for a first offence, but they did not agree. They ducked me into the cab, which was not a cab at all, but a squad car. I sat in the back seat with the lady cop, while the more subdued of the two men sat in the passenger seat and took notes. What was my age? 37. Had I ever been arrested before? Nope, never even had a speeding ticket. Did I have any drug paraphernalia, weapons, or sharp objects on me? No...I assured them I was about the most innocuous offender they could possibly have hoped to capture.

They wanted to know more about what was behind the criminal mind. Why was the sticker placed upside down? They passed around polaroids of the crime scene. Oh, they were so precious, so perfect...artwork as evidence! I wanted to hold them, but couldn't, because my hands were cuffed behind my back. Before I realized how it might sound, I said, "I've never been handcuffed before." The men chuckled awkwardly, then the one driving said, "I'm not gonna touch that one!" and the lady cop said, "Yeah, you better not."

I explained that I was actually a pretty legitimate artist, and if they wanted to check out more of my work they could see it on my website. They seemed impressed. The driver immediately called a friend (from a hand-held cellphone...I believe this is illegal in most states?) and had him look up my website while we were driving. Sure enough. The guy could see a picture of his friend's prisoner, along with pictures of her work, including...the upsidedown LIFE.

"It's just about how crazy things are in the world right now...everything's a mess," I said. And they agreed. They reminded me again that they don't make the laws, they may not even agree with them, they just enforce them. They said that they'd just come out of a meeting with Mayor Bloomberg, and that one of his big campaign mottos is "A Clean City is a Safe City." I grumbled.

We arrived at the precinct in Alphabet City, on Ave C and Eighth St. They took me into the room with the cells. There was a sign on the wall saying, "Search your prisoner carefully!" They removed my belt and jacket. Nothing with cords or strings allowed. I could keep my shoes, since cowboy boots have no laces. I was also allowed to keep my book... "Mexican Spanish"...which I studied pretty much incessantly during the time I was incarcerated. I could make one call using my cel phone, so I called my room-mate to let her know that I would be late getting home because I was in jail.

They shuffled a bunch of men out of one of the cells, uncuffed my hands, led me in and shut the door behind me. I was locked in. Locked into a concrete and metal room behind bars. For putting a sticker on a pole. I was acutely aware of the absurdity of the situation. Fortunately, due to the circumstances, it was more amusing than horrifying. But I suddenly had a new awareness of the fine line between the two. The fact remained that I had been jailed for virtually no reason. What about others wrongly accused of much more serious crimes, others much less socially privileged than myself? What about people in other countries who don't get to make their one phone call, who are locked away without hope of a fair trial or even humane treatment? I stared at my book, studying Spanish vocabulary between thoughts. How would I have been feeling without the refuge of my book? Would I have been able to quiet my mind, to remain calm with absolutely nothing as a comfort or distraction?

I was removed from my cell for fingerprinting. I put my palms on a scanner. The officer (the one who'd been driving...the one wearing a sweatshirt that said "DANGER: EXPLOSIVE: KEEP BACK 500 FEET" on the back) rolled each of my fingers across the glass as I watched my prints come up on the screen. Then he took my mugshots with a digital camera. It was all I could do not to burst into laughter. Mugshots!! I was returned to my cell, and assured that they'd try to expedite my case as quickly as possible. I thanked the man, who seemed to have warmed up considerably, and went back to my book.

The lady cop came and asked me if I wanted a soda. I said no thanks, but I'd love some water. She went off to the vending machine and came back apologizing that they were out of bottled water. She said she didn't want me drinking the tap water because it might make me sick. She assured me that I'd be out within an hour, and offered me a piece of gum.

Then some other officers brought in a young woman, maybe 19 or 20, strung out on something or other, crying hysterically. My cops came over and advised me just to ignore her. The girl came in and sat on the other end of the single wooden bench, leaning her head against the concrete, sobbing. After a few minutes I asked her what she was in for. She said trespassing, that she’d been squatting and had gotten caught on the roof of the building trying to escape. She asked me what I was there for, and I said graffiti. She asked me what kind, and I explained. She said that she'd been making her political statement by squatting, and that she was an anarchist. And I thought, this is all too perfect...first the ultimately sort of kindly trio that brought me in, and now I'm sharing my cell with a teenaged anarchist with pink satin thong underwear showing. She rudely demanded a cigarette, which her arresting officer eventually brought, and we shared it. She fell soundly asleep with the cigarette still burning between her fingers.

An hour and a half went by, and the officers fumbled with paperwork and chatted about cat food at a table not far from my chamber. Once in awhile Mr. Explosive would turn to me and say, "Just a few more minutes!" or his cel phone would ring and it would be his buddy on the internet with more questions about my work. They'd discovered the sonic fabric and wanted to know more about my connections with the band Phish.

The woman cop and Mr. E. left to go check the computer to see if my prints had come back from the main office in Albany. That left the quiet guy, the one with the Yankees sweatshirt, to keep an eye on me. I asked him about the water situation, and again I was advised against drinking the tap water, and reassured it wouldn’t be long before I'd be out. I asked him if he'd been doing this job long, and he said 12 years. I told him it felt strange being locked up, but that I felt pretty confident, being in the United States, that nothing too terrible was going to happen to me. I told him that I trusted completely, for example, that if I really needed water that someone would bring me some, and how kind of ironic it was that the reason I had none was because they were trying to find me the bottled kind. He told me that he'd been in the military for 8 years before becoming a cop, and how during that time he developed an appreciation for the things we take for granted in this country, like clean tap water and electricity. We agreed that Americans, as a whole, are pretty spoiled. I told him I'd always wondered what it was like to be in prison, and he said that, though I was the one behind the bars, that he couldn’t exactly leave his post either, and in fact was serving his second 12-hour shift in a row. He said he never expected to be a cop, it just happened because he needed to pay the bills. He said he doesn’t even agree with a lot of the laws he enforces...he's just doing his job. I suppressed the urge to ask what he would do if he felt he had a choice.

And I thought to myself, this is turning into a dialog from a play by Beckett or Sartre. Suddenly this poor man is the prisoner, and I am as free as a bird.

I'd been brought in at a little after 9pm, and now it was after 2am. I'd been studying during pauses in the conversation. Mr. E. was getting increasingly apologetic about the amount of time it was taking to free me...the computers in Albany were down. I assured him that I was fine, just a little thirsty. It would be no more than another half an hour. Prisoners came and went in the cell next to me, but I couldn’t see them, though I could hear them. One had been yelling for quite some time that he needed to go to the hospital. Others were singing. Another man was being asked by an officer if he was a US citizen. He said no, but that he was a legal resident. The officer asked him where he was from, and he said Bangladesh. The officer said, "Where’s that?" The man explained very patiently and politely in a voice completely devoid of foreign accent, adding that he's lived in New York for over 10 years. The officer replied, "Well, it looks like you'll be going for a ride then." The man said, "Sir? What do you mean by that, Sir?" And the officer said, "We’ll be shipping you back." And then there was silence.

I read, and thought about what was going on all around me. The anarchist girl would be staying all night, since she'd been picked up without ID. I would be getting my paperwork from Albany, and would have to appear in court on December fifth. My officers assured me that I’d be let off on "time already served", as long as I showed up in court. Otherwise, there would be a warrant out for my arrest. My contact lenses were dry. I was thirsty. I’d been locked up for 6 hours. What about diabetics who find themselves suddenly in jail without insulin, or people who have children or pets, or those who have to be at work on time? What about people in other countries, travelers, people far away from home? What happens to prisoners in an earthquake or other natural disaster? I’d put some LIFE posters up in Mexico over the summer. One day I traveled across the border from Texas by myself, and no one even knew I was there. How naive and ignorant I'd been.

I asked once again for water. The man with the Yankees sweatshirt said, "Really, Alyce, it will just be a few more minutes now...please...stop reading...just rest." I shut my eyes and leaned back against the concrete.

It was 3:30am when he came with the key to let me out. The lady cop had gone home, but the two men brought me out into the precinct where there were lots of other officers milling around. The Yankees guy handed me the paperwork and stood close by, flipping the pages and pointing out where to sign. Mr. E. reminded me several times not to forget to show up for my court date. I thanked them as I walked away, and smiled and waved as I walked through the revolving door out onto Avenue C.

I felt strange. Blonde relatively innocent white girl ejected onto desolate unfamiliar city street in a not-so-great part of town at nearly 4 in the morning. Thank goodness the police are around, keeping things clean and safe. I walked toward a cluster of bars, figuring the odds of getting a cab there would be greater than they'd be directly outside the jail. A cab came, and I hopped in. The driver and I talked about how magical the city looks in the middle of the night, and about how easy it is to get around without any traffic. I couldn't identify his accent. It wasn't until we were around the corner from my house that he asked me what I'd been doing in that part of town at 4am. I told him I'd been arrested for graffiting, and explained a little about the stickers. He made some witty comment while the machine tallied up the fee for the ride. $15. I handed him a $20 and told him to keep the change. He handed me back a $5 and said, "No way, you’ve been through enough tonight...I wish I could do more". I tried to give it back and he pushed my hand away. I told him I wished I'd had some stickers to give him, but my supply had been confiscated. We laughed, and said goodnight.

I unlocked the door to my apartment at a little after 4am. I took a shower and put on the teakettle. I stood at the counter waiting for the water to boil, laughing out loud as I imagined the next morning, explaining to my parents that I'd spent the night in jail. My poor parents have been through so much with me, their only child, always off on some crazy adventure, or misadventure, as the case may be. Thirty seven years old, in jail for putting a sticker on a pole.

I drifted off to sleep in my own room, in a bed with a pillow and covers.

alyce santoro, november 4, 2005
http://www.alycesantoro.com

home

2005-09-27T08:39:00.000-05:00

there's something about fall that feels like home to me. i think it's because i grew up in the woods, in a log cabin, and fall had a certain powerful sensory richness to it...the sweet smell of ripeness and earth, the glow of infinite shades of reds and yellows and oranges, the warmth of a fire in the fireplace.

there's a cozy little town near where i grew up, and 'round this time of the year they hold an annual harvest fair. there's apple picking and goat-cheese tasting and cider and doughnuts. and pumpkins. and robert grawi, the inventor of the gravikord, is always there, playing one of his magical instruments, doing duets with his flute-playing wife.

9/29 sonic fabric talk at parson's

2005-09-27T07:29:00.000-05:00

this thursday evening, september 29th, i'll be giving a little talk and demonstration of sonic fabric for a group called "21F", a bunch of folks who are interested in the intersection of fashion and technology. more info on them here . Parson's School of Design, Design Lab, 7pm, 55 west 13th st, 9th floor.

tonglen

2005-09-24T22:13:00.000-05:00

this really seems to help.

knitting

2005-09-05T10:33:00.000-05:00

lately i have been compulsively knitting. there's something so soothing about it, meditative, about the tying of little knots, each one containing the essence of the precise moment during which it was tied. the wool might take on the smell of campfire or coffee or bread baking or the subway depending on where i am and what's going on around me when i'm doing it. and the energy of my thoughts, my feelings for the one i am knitting for, like little prayers tied into every knot. "may the one who wears this feel loved and protected and warm". and the things i am knitting now are also imbued with anger and sorrow for the ones who are suffering and towards the society that let it come to this. sure i blame the government for not sending more help sooner, but i blame them more because their ambivalence and lack of compassion sets a terrible example for our culture. i don't believe that it's only the government's job to take care of everyone...i believe it's everyone's job to take care of everyone, and that a good government should be like a good parent, teaching by example, encouraging those who have more than they need to share with those less fortunate. it's not only the poor people who need better education. it's the people with wealth who seem not to understand the toll they are taking on our entire culture, the instability they are causing to the infrastructure of this thing we call a "democracy", by not giving something back. in a democracy we can't only blame the government...we must blame ourselves when there are rifts this profound. may this experience inspire each of us to take action in whatever way we can...that is the mission, after all, of the kind of political system we aspire to here in the united states. i blame the government for teaching selfishness and greed (and for their atrocious, horrific handling of this tragedy in particular). i blame it's people for not rising above it.

lecture 8/29 at the new school

2005-08-29T07:46:00.001-05:00

tonight i'll be the guest speaker at an event at the new school for incoming students. my talk is entitled "the art of science, the science of art", and i'm extremely grateful, and kind of astounded really, that this is happening. after the talk there will be a panel discussion...two other artists, a geneticist, and myself. i met with the panelists last week, and the four of us had one of those conversations, like a good jam session, where you can feel the synapses firing and watch the sparks flying. i was using pieces of my work as examples and points of reference...and realized suddenly that the "philosoprops" had found their niche. this is exactly how they are meant to be seen. and this very talk, about the intersection of art and science, is exactly what my work is all about.

"the art of science, the science of art"
tishman auditorium of the new school
monday august 29th
66 west 12th st from 5 to 7pm.

lincoln center

2005-08-13T08:13:00.000-05:00

when i was 10 i picked up the flute. there was always classical music playing around my house, and i feel like it definitely had a profound influence on my synaptic firings. later on i took classical flute lessons. at some point i remember seeing jean-pierre rampal at avery fisher hall in lincoln center, and imagined myself on stage, a virtuoso soloist. well, it was not to be. instead, soon after, i put an electric pick-up in my flute (inspired by laurie anderson's tape bow violin) and joined a punk band. now i make sound art, and invent things, and sure enough, i have a gig at lincoln center! well, not in a concert hall...outside, in front of avery fisher hall, as part of lincoln center out-of-doors "homemade musical instrument day". please stop by if you can, from 2 to 6 on sunday august 14th. more info here.