Beat Unravelling

Low-fi art, or dirt style, distills the old from new media, casting a nostalgic and sometimes skeptical glance on the rapid obsolescence of new technologies. Take Paul Slocum's dot matrix printer turned synthesizer, or Cory Arcangel's hacked Nintendo cartridges: both pay homage to somewhat outdated technologies while, at the same time, breaking them down and de-mystifying them technically. The next step forward in new media regression is 'Transparent Processes,' an evening of live visual music curated by New York musician Nick Hallett that presents four acts: multi-media artists LoVid, musician Ray Sweeten, filmmakers Sandra Gibson and Luis Recoder, and the band I Love You--all of whom create original light and sound environments while laying their production bare. LoVid, for example, will perform on their 'Kiss Blink Sync Vessel'(2005) a homemade audiovisual synthesizer that interrupts video signals and channels them into abstract, pulsating video collages. I Love You will orchestrate 'color music' instruments, like the optical theremin, to produce a stage full of sonic light. 'Transparent Processes' is set to take place at the Kitchen on November 9th, and promises to lead its audiences into a bright, if overexposed, future. - Lauren Cornell