Chinet by Shotguns to Daylight

Chinet is a semi-biographical work depicting the various influences that China and the United States have upon each other. Sometimes culturally seeing each other as invasive species other times mutual benefactors, it can be debated that one is overpowering the other. In Chinet the image of a star is used as the central motif i.e. the flag of China and as the logo for "America's team" the Dallas Cowboys.

Chinet premiered on Nov. 7 at the NIU School of Music Recital Hall.

 

Let's Kickstart Animalia! (deadline Oct.15th)

C. Ryder Cooley and I are very excited to be close to finishing our most recent animation project - Animalia (also a performance and illustrated book). We are using Kickstarter to help us fund the final stages of the project, and we NEED YOUR HELP!

Since I moved from NY to Illinois we have not been able to do the final overdubs and color correction. Therefore our priority is to use this funding to bring Ryder to Illinois where we can finish the animation (and perhaps have Ryder perform...).

Also, we would like to make this 15-minute animation available on the web and as a DVD - and that costs money, which is where you come in. Please take a moment to visit our Kickstarter page to find out more. You can also watch a trailer for the animation by following the link below.

ABOUT THE PROJECT
Animalia is an inter-species fairytale about a girl who is disenchanted with the world and wishes she could fly. She joins the circus only to discover it is a secret military operation. She then runs away to the woods and falls under the spell of a mystical deer. When she becomes an antlered deer-creature, she finally achieves flying powers and enters an ethereal world of hybrid creatures.

Viologen with Matthew Dotson

The latest edition in the Dotson/Woodstrup series, Viologen is inspired by recent discoveries made in the field of fuel cell technology. Viologens are a class of organic electrochromics which owe their name to a colour change from colorless to violet. This technology may one day improve video display technology.

Viologen have the potential to catalytically oxidize glucose and other carbohydrates in a mildly alkaline solution, which makes a carbohydrate fuel cell possible. Viologens are also investigated for use in electrochromic systems because of their ability to change color reversibly many times upon reduction and oxidation. Possibly the best known viologen is Paraquat, which is one of the world's most widely used herbicides. Recently, Gerald Watt (great-great nephew of the steam engine inventor James Watt), used this herbicide as a catalyst to extract the electrons from glucose and transfer them to an electrode.

What Happens Next? At the House, DeKalb

Welcoming the NIU Time Arts students back to campus, What Happens Next was screened at the local coffeehouse
(The House). Artists Include: Dara Greenwald + Bettina Escauriza, Jaanika Peerna, Christine Sciulli, LoVid, Shawn Lawson, Penny Lane, Matthew Biederman with Alain Thibault, C. Ryder Cooley with Jen Smith and Gretchen Hildebran, J. Craig Tompkins, and Project-K. Exciting new additions: Randi Stella, Iga Puchalska, Matthew Dotson, and Paolo Pedercini.

Check out this review from the local student newspaper.

The Coffeejam Collective

I busted out my Wii controller and some Max patches for a fun afternoon of sound synthesis at Degroovia Guitars in DeKalb. It was part of a monthly series of performances hosted by my long-time friend and musician, Byron Wise. *photos by Toni Close http://burningcicada.com/coffeejam

Disposable Rocket Band @Heavy

My, my, my how the gigs at St. Joe's in Albany have grown since Chip Fasciana and I put together Obsequi back in 2007. I happened to be in Albany this week so it was only natural to get back on the rocketship and rock out with Disposable Rockets Mat Kane and Rachelle Smith-Stallman. Some press from the gig: nippertown - alloveralbany - barre.me

*photo by Collin Badger

NIU School of Art displays

I've been teaching at NIU's School of Art for the past year and they asked me to design/program a calendar/announcement/slide show for the displays hanging in their hallways. The logo and background were designed by Ola Giza. Later this year, I might add some Kurt Ralske inspired abstractions for it...

Midwest Museum of Natural History Touchscreens

Beginning in February I began redesigning two interactive kiosks for the Midwest Museum of Natural History in Sycamore, IL. The museum has a large display of mounted animals divided into North American and African exhibits - with a touchscreen kiosk devoted to each. With my friend and photographer Jeremy Schulz we began by photographing the animals. I then spent the majority of my free time for 3 months building out the interactive screens using Flash and Actionscript 3. Each kiosk has an "about" page, animal descriptions, habitat and conservation maps, and an interactive quiz game. As of June, the kiosks are working and on display, but I will likely be making adjustments to the design and code for a few more weeks... Please visit this unique museum.

Tele-Colonization released on Deep Listening

Telematic Circle Tintinnabulate Ensemble - Pauline Oliveros, Director SoundWIRE Ensemble - Chris Chafe, Director

A group improvisation based on a music concept and adaptive sound scapes by Jonas Braasch with video design by Bart Woodstrup, Tele-Colonization is a compositional concept for a semistructured group improvisation for two or more co-located ensembles. It was recorded during the International Conference on Auditory Display (ICAD) in Montreal on June 26, 2007, where the work was performed by two ensembles: Tintinnabulate and SoundWIRE. The main site was located in Tanna Schulich Hall at McGill University. Members of the Tintinnabulate ensemble performed in Montreal under the guidance of Pauline Oliveros. Three remote /site/sites contributed to the concert: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute with members from Tintinnabulate, Stanford University and KAIST in Seoul, South Korea. The SoundWIRE ensemble, directed by Chris Chafe, performed at the latter two locations.