Vanquish the Void!
Site-specific Installation for SPACES
Front International Triennial II, Cleveland, Ohio
2022
Materials: Weather Station, Musical Score by Heavy Color (Ben Cohen and Sam Woldenberg), Electronics, Custom Software, Wood, Plastics, Urethane Foam, and Fabric. Six Channel Audio : Bass Clarinet, Soprano Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone, Harmonium, Voice, Percussion Music and Sound by Heavy Color.
Special thanks (for assistance) to Heavy Color (Ben Cohen and Sam Woldenberg), Pieter Heremans, Atelier Vilvoorde, Harlan Levey Projects, SPACES team, Sears Think[box] at Case Western Reserve University, Jeremy Paul, Patrick Booth, and Leen Scholiers,
Artistic Director Prem Krishnamurthy and curator Murtaza Vali. Comissioned through SPACES International Residency Program
Description:
The installation “Vanquish the Void!” transforms the winds of Lake Erie into a staged weather system in the gallery of SPACES. Ahmed creates automated aeoliphones to play back the wind recorded through a dedicated weather station in a dramatized form.
Aeoliphones have been used since the 17th century to create gentle breezes and chaotic storms for opera, theater, and cinema. Working with composers Heavy Color (Ben Cohen and Sam Woldenberg) and the multi-instrumentalist Patrick Booth, these winds are integrated into an eight part score for a film created in realtime in the exhibition space.
The score incorporates collected accounts of the weather in Cleveland by its residents. The visuals for this film are made with practical effects. A turntable is suspended from the ceiling of the gallery rotates through eight different scales of the city which the winds effect. The score and eight scenes reflect the movements of a storm from a gentle breeze, its impending arrival, cataclysmic arrival, and aftermath. The model itself takes the place of the “eye of the storm” around which a visual vortex forms. The installation is oriented towards downtown to address the city as its audience.
Audio Note:
Drawing inspiration from performed theatre and foley, Heavy Color worked In collaboration with multi-instrumentalist Patrick Booth and artist Haseeb Ahmed to create and recreate the sound of wind through the various stages of a storm using orchestral instruments. Oral accounts of storms by Dorothy Williams, Matt Foss, Leslie Woldenberg, Lee Woldenberg, Hernan Vasquez, Akili Jackson, Yusuf Lateef, Stacy Jurich, Leen Scholiers, and Haseeb Ahmed.
Site-specific Installation for SPACES
Front International Triennial II, Cleveland, Ohio
2022
Materials: Weather Station, Musical Score by Heavy Color (Ben Cohen and Sam Woldenberg), Electronics, Custom Software, Wood, Plastics, Urethane Foam, and Fabric. Six Channel Audio : Bass Clarinet, Soprano Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone, Harmonium, Voice, Percussion Music and Sound by Heavy Color.
Special thanks (for assistance) to Heavy Color (Ben Cohen and Sam Woldenberg), Pieter Heremans, Atelier Vilvoorde, Harlan Levey Projects, SPACES team, Sears Think[box] at Case Western Reserve University, Jeremy Paul, Patrick Booth, and Leen Scholiers,
Artistic Director Prem Krishnamurthy and curator Murtaza Vali. Comissioned through SPACES International Residency Program
Description:
The installation “Vanquish the Void!” transforms the winds of Lake Erie into a staged weather system in the gallery of SPACES. Ahmed creates automated aeoliphones to play back the wind recorded through a dedicated weather station in a dramatized form.
Aeoliphones have been used since the 17th century to create gentle breezes and chaotic storms for opera, theater, and cinema. Working with composers Heavy Color (Ben Cohen and Sam Woldenberg) and the multi-instrumentalist Patrick Booth, these winds are integrated into an eight part score for a film created in realtime in the exhibition space.
The score incorporates collected accounts of the weather in Cleveland by its residents. The visuals for this film are made with practical effects. A turntable is suspended from the ceiling of the gallery rotates through eight different scales of the city which the winds effect. The score and eight scenes reflect the movements of a storm from a gentle breeze, its impending arrival, cataclysmic arrival, and aftermath. The model itself takes the place of the “eye of the storm” around which a visual vortex forms. The installation is oriented towards downtown to address the city as its audience.
Audio Note:
Drawing inspiration from performed theatre and foley, Heavy Color worked In collaboration with multi-instrumentalist Patrick Booth and artist Haseeb Ahmed to create and recreate the sound of wind through the various stages of a storm using orchestral instruments. Oral accounts of storms by Dorothy Williams, Matt Foss, Leslie Woldenberg, Lee Woldenberg, Hernan Vasquez, Akili Jackson, Yusuf Lateef, Stacy Jurich, Leen Scholiers, and Haseeb Ahmed.
