AUTOMATIC (2000)

site specific installation for the Transmissions Festival in Chapel Hill, North Carolina

 

Automatic asks, what is the difference between our experience of visual and aural information/signs in public zones? Do visual and aural textures trigger memories and emotions in a comparable manner when experienced in public? Is all public, non-commercial, expressive writing (visual or aural) graffiti? Textures built from words found in the paintings of Raymond Saunders and Jean-Michel Basquiat are the foundation for this composition. Both painters are well known for creating works that blur the line between high and low forms. As in hip-hop, SaundersÕ and BasquiatÕs employment of found objects and graffiti techniques is significant in crafting a personal sign or tag out of appropriated materials. I cut my teeth (or ears) on hip-hop and now spend an equal amount of time on opera, soundscapes and experimental narratives. As such, I have had to ask myself constantly what it means to make art/music for the streets. Automatic is my most recent answer.

Click here to for an MP3 of Automatic.