Under Saraswati River
For the month of December 2006, "Under Saraswati River" was installed at the Folsom Library Vertical Gallery, RPI, Troy, NY. It was displayed as a single channel video, broadcast on three monitors that were suspended in the library stairwell.

This version used only minimal imagery consisting of transitions between organic, textured patterns that slowly descended vertically in the space, bathing the stairwell in blue light. The audio was a remix of the live version recorded in April (see below).

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Tintinnabulate Live at Wavefarm
On October 19th, Tintinnabulate performed at Wavefarm in Acra, NY. Though we performed deep in the woods of the Catskills, I still managed to use a laptop and amplification. The performance was broadcast live on free103point9 FM in Brooklyn. You can hear a sample of the performance on the "vodcast" that feature's an interview with Pauline Oliveros.

Singing Tree
Throughout September and October I've had the pleasure of performing with some exceptional people. On Thursdays, C. Ryder Cooley would perform her saw and accordion from a chair hanging from a tree on RPI's campus. Other performers would climb the tree with her or gather below her and perform improvised music. When not playing music, I would project live video onto the tree/Ryder.

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Domeworks
I assisted with Domeworks - a performance of video and music at the Schenectady Museum. We installed a small geodesic dome in the parking lot of the Schenectady Museum and projected video into the dome. Rain threatened our performance all day, but by performance time the skies cleared for an amazing show.

soundSEEDS Residency at Wavefarm
The goal of this residency was to research and develop small, green-powered sound devices capable of recording and transmitting sound for use in a live audio performance system. Conceptually, the biological/botanical process of plant, seed, photosynthesis, harvesting, and processing are used as a metaphor for the electronic process. The study was to culminate in a live electronic musical performance.

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North Avenue - Illinois Route 64
For many years I have considered making a video that documented the gradation of cultures that occur as one travels west of Chicago into the Midwest of America. In particular I am interested in investigating the contrasts between the people of this area: the rich, the middle class, the poor, the urban, the suburban, the rural, etc. I am also interested in amplifying the similarities where found. I'm interested in this as an investigation of who these people are, how they live, how their culture develops, and how their culture deteriorates. The goal is not to document the exotic in the "other" and it is not to present a macroscopic global view. The goal is to hold up a mirror to these communities in order for them to see if they can still recognize themselves, provide their own critiques, and draw their own conclusions.

America has become a bipolar society. Each of us with our own interpretation of how our present will affect our future. We have become so entrenched in our belief systems that we turn away from witnessing when our belief systems fail us. This denial is allows us to sleep at night, but it is keeping us from dreaming. Our dreams are our identity, our unity, our future.

I am asking a variety of people to participate in this project: artists, filmmakers, composers, animators, photographers - though we each are some combination of all of these titles. The motif for the piece that I am interested in collaborating on, is the roadway Illinois Route 64. Though a seemingly endless strip mall and car lot in the suburbs, it becomes a beach in Chicago, a bridge over the Mississippi, a desert of corn in the countryside.

Lovid DVD 486 Interface
As part of Lovid's iEAR residency in the summer of 2006 they designed an interactive DVD with an interface that would function as a work of art. The interface allows the user to metaphorically short the traces of a circuit board in order to play one of 486 video files. This process is similar to the process that Lovid went through to create the video original video files. My role was to construct and program the interface. It was a long weekend, but quite an interesting piece.

Lighting Research at the LRC
LGHT 4770 Lighting Technologies and Applications, a course at the Lighting Research Center, was divided into three main sections, LED sources, Lighting Controls, and Luminaire Design.

These three sections culminated into an integrated final project. The topic for this final project, “Vehicle Checkpoint,” was assigned and selected randomly. The goal was to design an LED lighting fixture for a specific application and to demonstrate it in that application – with the final goal being to develop a proposal that would convince a manufacturer to produce the LED fixture.

Based upon similarities between the criteria for this project and features of the Sirocco® inflatable balloon made by Airstar (www.airstar-light.com), this study focused on retrofitting and/or redesigning the Sirocco with LEDs.

The Sirocco® is a highly portable, halogen luminaire with the unique feature of being an inflatable balloon. The balloon is composed of an upper–half Mylar reflector and lower-half Gortex diffuser. The base of the Sirocco® houses a small fan that keeps the balloon inflated.

For this study, Airstar America Inc. graciously lent a Sirocco balloon for comparative testing.

(Airstar America)
(LRC)

Under Saraswati River
An evening immersed in waters of the Hindu Goddess Saraswati. The patron goddess of learning in the arts, she is also a symbol of purity and creativity. In her four hands she holds the book of universal knowledge, a string of pearls for meditation, a container of water for purification, and the veena, a musical instrument representing perfection in the arts and sciences. "Under Saraswati River" was projected into the dome at the Children's Museum of Science and Technology in Troy, NY as a part of the Domeworks series - a presentation of visual and sonic art.

Sitar and Dilruba were performed by Curtis Bahn, vocals by Jayeeta Chowdhury, and synthesis by Vodstrup and Alex Chechile. Composed by Bart Woodstrup (aka Vodstrup) Special thanks to Brecht Debackere for Jitter patch assistance.

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UPGRADE:Eyebeam
Tintinnabulate is an ensemble of improvisational players whose voices and senses are tuned through the practice of Deep Listening. We achieve harmony through intuition, play, and sympathetic resonance. Founded by Pauline Oliveros, and based at RPI's iEAR program in Troy, NY.

MIG is an ensemble focused on technologically mediated improvisation that draws from the Free Jazz and Experimental Music Tradition. Members include both Brown University and Rhode Island School of Design students. MIG is an outgrowth of MEME, the multimedia and electronic music composition program at Brown University.

Tintinnabulate has initiated a series of Distance Performances (live, co-located Internet performances with improvisational ensembles across the United States). Photographs are taken from a Tintinnabulate performance with Brown University's MIG ensemble at Eyebeam in NYC (January 26, 2006). More photos of this event can be found HERE. Vodstrup performed several "live cinema" video pieces for this event.

Fieldwork as Art
During the Fall 2005 semester at RPI, I was involved as a participant observer of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's Electronics Club (Eclub). The purpose of this ethnographic study was to investigate the social, ethical, and technical traits common in electrical engineering. A subset of initiatives involves developing professional relationships within the group in order to facilitate collaborative future work. A further research objective is to begin to understand the engineer's general relationship to the art world as well as the possible role of the engineer as artist.

Pauline Oliveros Performance with Mills College
In addition to performing in Pauline Oliveros' ensemble "Tintinnabulate," I have assisted and collaborated with her on many of her "distance performances." On this date I was running her video and audio feed to Mills College in Oakland.