Experiments on the Notation of Shapes by Joao Vasco Paiva :: February 12 - April 4, 2010 :: Opening Reception: February 12; 7:00 - 9:00 pm :: Artist Talk: March 24; 7:00 pm :: Unmeasured Music: March 31; 7.30 pm :: I/O (Input/ Output), 31 Wyndham Street, Central, Hong Kong.

Experiments on the Notation of Shapes by Portuguese artist and Hong Kong resident, Joao Vasco Paiva, is a generative multi-channel video installation where Hong Kong cityscapes are used as coordinates for sound synthesis. Computational translation, footage of urban planning and architectural elements are used as a musical score. In this work, a post-apocalyptic aura consumes the concrete form of the metropolis. Two wall-based projections present Hong Kong cityscapes. The city, its emptiness and its structure are kept in “time images” that solicit contemplation. Continue reading

Street pianos are appearing in cities across the world. Located in skate parks, industrial estates, laundrettes, precincts, bus shelters and train stations, outside pubs and football grounds, the pianos are for any member of the public to enjoy and claim ownership of.

This summer 30 pianos will appear in London and London City. Who plays them and how long they remain is up to each community. The pianos act as sculptural, musical, blank canvases that become a reflection of the communities they are embedded in. Many pianos are personalised and decorated. You can find maps of the locations in London and London City at: http://www.streetpianos.com/london2009/ Continue reading

Birdcage: Zeedijk — Audrey Chen (US), Wun Thong (AU), Byungjun Kwon (KR/NL), dj sniff (JP/NL) :: July 4, 2009; 7:00 - 11:00 pm :: Toko Dun Yong Store Front, Zeedijk 88, 1012, Amsterdam.

One of the first things you notice in the Netherlands are exposed windows. Whether it’s a family having dinner or a half naked lady luring you into her red lit room, the interface between the interior and exterior is often transparent. In contrast, for many Asian cultures you can barely catch a glimpse inside. Perhaps this has to do with how each culture deals with the gaze - looking at or being looked at. However, what is more interesting to us, is how do we listen within the politics of this gaze.

Birdcage: Zeedijk is a listening experience, about the way our ears can focus or drift in a given multi-sensory environment. Continue reading

Routes + Routines Follow Blind Workshops by Peter Westenberg and Wendy Van Wynsberghe (Constant vzw) :: July 15, 2009; 10:00 am - city walk starts at Timelab - Sint Pietersnieuwstraat 23 - 9000 Ghent :: To participate email summercamp [at] timelab.org.

This workshop is a detour through the city of Ghent guided by environmental data. Fit up with a self-made antenna, city walkers are dwelling through the electromagnetic fields of Ghent.

Part 1: EMF Antenna: After a contextualization of the workshop by a presentation and introduction of EMF, participants will make their own EMF antenna. Tools and material are provided by Constant. Duration: 3 hours. Continue reading

Binauralmedia and Nodar Artist Residency Center announce: Paivascapes #1 Structure, Process and Perception of a River :: February - October 2010 :: International Open Call for Art Projects — Deadline: September 30, 2009.

The Nodar Artist Residency Program for 2010 will have a single aggregating subject: the Paiva River. Throughout the year, from winter to autumn, several multidisciplinary art projects (having sound as a central element) will be developed in a context-specific perspective, interacting with the river’s different geographical areas, from its spring to its mouth. A tribute to a small river that is a symbol of a region that (still) can live in a well-balanced interaction with nature. Continue reading

Electronic Music Foundation presents Sound in the Frying Pan — Eight sound artists board the lightship Frying Pan for a three-day event of site-specific compositions :: May 15, 2009; 7:00 pm; May 16, 17; 12:00 - 9:00 pm :: Lightship Frying Pan, Pier 66, West Side Highway (at 26th Street), New York City.

Jessica Feldman’s Sirens plays off the conflict between warning sailors, the original function of the lightship, and the natural seduction of sound :: Melissa Clarke, Ben Owen and Shimpei Takeda’s Underfoot recreates the bottom of the Hudson River within the ship with projections, sound and reflective materials composed of geographical data. Continue reading

The Montréal Sound Map — Call for Participation: Sound maps are in many ways the most effective auditory archive of an environment, touching on political, artistic, cultural, historical, and technological aspects. Montréal Sound Map’s aim is to create an archival database of sound recordings from all over Montréal.

They are accepting all (unprocessed) audio recordings (past and present) of Montreal’s sound environments. As they gather submissions, they will be placing them into a browsable tagging system based on criteria including: Sound Source (characteristics); Location (borough, neighbourhood, municipality); Date (time of day, month, day of week, year, season); Environment Type (park, metro, indoors, outdoors, etc…); Equipment (recording device, microphone, etc…). Files can be uploaded through the form on the ‘Uploads’ section of the website. Continue reading

Turbulence Commission: Bronx Rhymes by Claudia Bernett and Maria Ioveva: Bronx Rhymes illuminates the history and significance of Hip Hop in the Bronx by tagging important locations for Hip Hop (1520 Sedgwick, for example) with posters. Each poster describes the historical significance of that location in the form of a rhyme, and invites people walking by to join in a rhyming battle by txt-ing their own rhyme from their mobile phone. The website displays the artists and locations along with all the submitted rhymes elevating the most recent submission. Eventually, visitors to the website will be able to rate existing rhymes, and add their own. Continue reading