Artist Talk - Laser & sound Installation

** discussion in seattle this Saturday on the interactive, light and
sound installation, "untitled," currently on view at jack straw new media gallery, seattle **

iole alessandrini, aimee friberg, ed mannery, taichi kitamura and a host of other talented collaborators will discuss the project, the process and the forthcoming performance

for complete information, please see jack straw press release below. we
hope to see you there. please join us afterwards for a summer refreshment
in the lobby of jack straw productions.

CONTACT: Steve Peters, Arts Manager
206/ 634-0919 ~ [email protected]

http://www.jackstraw.org/gallery_current.html


Saturday, July 24 @ 2 PM : Iole Alessandrini & Collaborators to Discuss
Intermedia Installation at Jack Straw New Media Gallery


DISCUSSION: Saturday, July 24 ~ 2: 00 PM
LOCATION: Jack Straw New Media Gallery at Jack Straw Productions ~ 4261
Roosevelt Way NE ~ Seattle, WA 98105
EXHIBITION DATES: June 18 - September 17, 2004
EXHIBITION HOURS: Monday - Friday, 9 AM - 6 PM or by appointment.
ADMISSION: Free to the public.


******************************

Architect & Artist Iole Alessandrini will discuss her light/sound
installation, "Untitled," currently on view at Jack Straw New Media
Gallery.

This fascinating interactive exhibit uses custom built lasers and sound
controlled by photoelectric cells in a specially designed room
constructed within the gallery to create a multi-dimensional experience of walking through planes of light and sound waves.

Alessandrini and members of her collaborative team: Ed Mannery, Steve
Ditore, Aimee, Friberg, Pedro Alexander, Larry Rouch, Taichi Kitamura and
Mallet Inc., will introduce the concepts and technology behind the work,
which will continue to evolve over the three months it will be open.

"Untitled" is free and open to the public Monday through Friday, 9-6, or
by
appointment. The show runs until September 17.

More details below.



*******************


Artist Statement:

"A collaborative effort between Myself, Ed Mannery, Steve Ditore, Aimee
Friberg, Pedro Alexander, Larry Rouch and Mallet Inc., this project is
participatory in nature. Emerging from experiments with lasers, optics
and
computer technologies, Untitled examines the horizon of the luminous
world,
the liminal regions of sound and vibration and the experiential dimension
of
light radiant yet intangible. Employing custom-built lasers, photocells, sound, Pure Data programming environments
and a light controlled room, Untitled questions the limits of our
physical perception of reality and evokes the possibility of passing through walls via the imagination and the flight of our dreams. Five lasers in the shape of luminous planes are projected against the walls of a room. The laser
planes cross the space at different angles, dividing the room left and
right, up and down. The audience stimulates and affects fluctuations in
the
sound through their physical interaction with the lasers. With past
projects
I have investigated ideas concerning space and people?s perception of
space.
Notions of distributed body, multiple-self, transmigration of presence
(to
mention a few) have emerged through these investigations. Through this
project, we intend to merge these ideas with a awareness of the nature
of
reality in general and of consciousness in particular as a coherent
whole,
which is never static or complete but which is an unending process of
movement and unfoldment [sic]…. as expressed by David Bohm in his
writings on the Implicate Order. The project is envisioned as a
laboratory
and it will evolve with new layouts of sound, laser, and computer
programming, including performance throughout the three month residency
program."

****************


Bios:

Iole Alessandrini is a Seattle-based artist working with light and
digital media. She studied art and architecture in Italy and in the United
States, and it is the intersection between these two creative expressions and
cultures through which her work moves. Collaborative in nature, these
projects explore sensorial and cognitive parameters of perception
bringing together sight, touch, hearing and meanings with new awareness of the
physical world through the simulated reality of media. A selection of her work includes: Truth Is Not A Sentence inside the First Christian Church, Carmen a PNB production at Mercer Arena, Cloud Gentle and Drifting at the Bellevue Art Museum, Contour at the Capitol Hill Library; I Luoghi di Iole in Belfast, Aqua Pura Vista at the water tower in Volunteer Park; and Winter, Season Of Light in Tacoma. For a complete list of Alessandrini's work please visit: http://www.iole.org/

Ed Mannery is an optical design consultant and mechanical engineer who
specializes in large astronomical telescopes. He is currently working on a project to build four telescopes for the University of Hawaii. He has also collaborated on over a dozen art exhibitions involving lasers, computers and optics.

Steve Ditore Sound Design/Recording. Educated in Music, with a M.A.,
spec. theory/composition; currently staff engineer at Jack Straw Productions,
after nine years as Senior engineer for The Live Room, a radio program of live music recorded and mixed at Jack Straw. From 1990-1995 involved in sound art installations and improvised electronic music performances with various collaborators. Ad hoc member of SoniCabal, a local experimental electronic music composers' collective.

Aimee Friberg is an artist working in installation, video & interactive
performance. A selection of her work includes Yards of Reflection, an
immersive installation utilizing 200 yards of fabric, video projection
and sound that created a space for reflection of the history & ambience of the Historic Bemis Building; Stitching Piazzolla, a short film in which the protagonist, an industrial sewing needle, performs to a cyclical work of Tango Master Astor Piazzolla; and the in-progress work, Project Docile, a performance that considers the dialectic relationship between audience & performer and questions the power struggle inherent in that relationship through closed circuit camera & sensing & control system, developed & performed at the Kitchen Center for Media, NY, NY. Aimee received her B.A. at the University of Washington in Interdisciplinary Visual Art (2003) and served as a Teaching Assistant for DXARTS her last two years at the University.

Pedro Alexander is a concept engineer specializing in immersive
environments and networked events. His work has explored the collaborative construction of experience through creative processes as diverse as sculpture, installation, and theatre in Europe as well as in the United States. He is best known in Seattle for his pioneering happenings, synthesizing traditional art disciplines with digital technologies and universally recognized psychogeographical maps. Pedro taught theatre design at Marlboro College, VT and has served as assistant to the Master Scenic here at the Seattle Opera. His projects include work with: The Untied Nations; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Seattle Art Museum; Bellevue Art Museum; Experience Music Project; Seattle International Film Festival; as well as collaborations with many internationally known artists such as: Dale Chihuly; Michael Singer; Dave Matthews; REM; Pearl Jam; and Phillip Glass.

Larry Rouch In 1981, after producing large commercial and public projects for other firms for thirteen years, Larry Rouch established Larry Rouch Company in Seattle. Since then LRCo has designed notable residences and commercial and interior projects throughout the Western United States, including the 55,000 square foot San Francisco exhibition: Toshimitsu ImaiKa Cho Fu Getsu. Larry Rouch Company projects have been featured in many publications including: Architectural Record, Progressive Architecture, ID Annual Design Review, Interiors, Ottagono (Italy) and Worldspace Design (Japan).

Mallet Inc. Eric Hentz is the owner of Mullet Inc. a local construction
company whose work in Seattle includes: Ace Hotel, Zeitgeist and Le
Pichet.

Jack Straw Productions is a non-profit multidisciplinary arts
organization
dedicated to the creation, production, and presentation of all forms of
audio art.

Jack Straw Productions thanks the Paul G. Allen Charitable Foundation,
ArtsFund, the Mayors Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs, the 4Culture
King County Lodging Tax, the Washington State Arts Commission, the National Endowment for the Arts, and our individual contributors for their vital support of our programs and services.

The Artists wish to thank the Center for Digital & Experimental Art
(DXARTS) at the University of Washington and Laser Dreams for their support in realizing this project.