“I would like to pay my respects to all living creatures who inhabit dark places and who, over the years, have developed the art of echolocation (sounds sent out into an environment returning as messengers with information as to shape, size and substance of the environment and the objects in it). I am envious of the astonishing acuity of such creatures — dolphins, certain species of nocturnal birds, and bats, particularly those of the family Vespertilionidae, the common bat of Europe and North America.

Vespers was composed in 1968 and is performed in darkness. Each performer is supplied with a Sondol (sonar-dolphin), a hand-held echolocation device which emits a fast, sharp, narrow-beamed click whose repetition rate can be varied manually, and is given the task of orienting himself in the dark by means of scanning the environment and monitoring the relationship between the outgoing and returning pulses. When the pulse repetition rate is adjusted so that the returning echo is half-way between the outgoing pulses, an object appears to emit sound, the quality of which depends upon the material of the object itself.

Moving from place to place the performer discovers clear pathways, avoids obstacles and takes slow sound photographs of his surroundings.

This recording was made with the Environ-Ears Recording System, an integrated acoustical labyrinth and microphone assembly which duplicates the localization and noise-reducing functions of the human ear. The system consists of a pair of ears mounted on a tube containing two miniature high quality microphones which record the actual physical positions of sounds in three dimensions.

Both the Sondols and the Environ-Ears System were designed by Listening, Incorporated, Arlington, Massachusetts.”

Alvin Lucier was born in 1931 in Nashua, New Hampshire . He studied music at Yale and Brandeis and spent two years in Rome on a Fulbright scholarship. He was formerly conductor of the Brandeis University Chamber Chorus and now teaches electronic music at Wesleyan University in Connecticut. His recent works include Music for Solo Performer (live brainwaves) 1965, Whistlers (ionospheric disturbances) 1966, Shelter (sounds filtering through walls and floors) 1967, North American Time Capsule (humans talking to aliens) 1967, and Chambers (moving small and large resonant environments) 1968.

The Sonic Arts Union formed in 1966 when Robert Ashley, David Behrman, Alvin Lucier, and Gordon Mumma decided to pool their resources and help one another with the performance and staging of their music. Since that time the group has performed extensively in the United States and has completed three tours of Europe. Thanks to UbuWeb.

The Special Player is an interactive performance in the context of transmediale 08 - conspire. Involving a sophisticated responsive motion tracking environment, four contemporary dancers and its visitors, The Special Player explores a massively disquieting conspirative narration.

In the performance, the ambient digital environment provides the dancers with a complex ‘Digital Aura’, which reveals the network behind the obvious. Relaying to the ancient human fears, The Special Player throws its visitors right in the center of a sinister conspiration. Using a secret motion analysis algorithm, The Special Player selects single visitors and equips them with overwhelming power.

February 1, 2008; 9:00 pm - The Special Player (interactive live temple show) - Presentation, performance and party
February 1, 2008; midnight - The Shaidon Effect DJ Set
February 2, 2008; 5:00 pm - The Special Player (interactive live set)
February 3, 2008; 5:00 pm - The Special Player (interactive live set)

I Am You: The Special Player - The Special Player is a result of an interdisciplinary cooperation project between international choreographers, contemporary dancers, the interactive live set group 02L > Outside Standing Level, the Berlin-based Picamotics/ATTOMAAKU-Platform and libavg, an open-source high-level multimedia platform with a focus on interactive installations.

In January 2008, LEMUR will inaugurate ReSiDeNt, a unique new creator-in-residence program, hosted at LEMUR’s Brooklyn space in Park Slope. Each month, we will award three artists a month-long residency at LEMUR, enabling them to create a work utilizing LEMUR’s resources, including robotic musical instruments, MIDI audio/video controllers, video projection and tracking system and more. Each group of residencies will culminate in a public show at LEMUR at the end of the month.

LEMUR’s staff will provide technical support to residents for learning and utilizing our resources. For early residencies, we will give preference to artists with a reasonable degree of technical skill with computer art. As the year progresses, we will be able to give a higher level of technical support, possibly including programming, electronic design and more.

The deadline to apply for January’s residencies is Monday, December 17th. Announcement of January’s residency awards will be announced the following week.

Subsequent deadlines will be rolling, allowing artists to submit applications to be considered for future residencies throughout the year. The application process is outlined below and will also be posted to LEMUR’s web site shortly.

Applying to ReSiDeNt

The application process is designed to be easy. Mainly, we want to see your qualifications and past work and get a sense of the type of work you would do at a LEMUR residency.

All applications are accepted via email to resident [at] lemurbots.org. Please include the following information in your email.

Part 1: Contact Information

Name
Address
Email
Cell number
Alt number

Part 2: Work Samples

Send URLs of video, audio, photos and text documenting your past projects. Please indicate which works you would like us to view, in which order, and what role you had in creating the work.

We prefer to receive all work samples online. You may also attach files up to 1 MB total. If you need to email larger files which you can not put online, please contact us in advance for ftp information. If you must mail hard copy of work, you can send it to LEMUR, 461 3rd Avenue, Brooklyn, NY, 11215, attn: ReSiDeNt.

Part 3: Artist Resume/CV

Send us your artist resume or CV in plain text, Word or PDF format. Important - please make sure to include a list of your technical skills relevant to the residency.

Part 4: Proposal Sketch

Send us your idea or ideas for what you might do during a LEMUR residency. Include which instruments and resources you envision working with (see below). Your project does not need to be conceived in full at this time, but please instill in us the confidence that you have a reasonable plan in mind and that you can realize a work in a month’s time.

FAQ

What instruments, systems and other resources will be available to me?

GuitarBot, XyloBot, ModBots (percussion bots), HydroBots (water-based bots), Slime-o-trons (slime controllers), Chime-o-tron (MIDI wind chimes), Slink-o-trons (slinky controllers), Sonic Banana (bend controller), Ascension Flock of Birds 6-DOF tracking system with 3 trackers, sensors, MidiTron and MidiTron Wireless sensor interfaces, floor-projected video with video tracking overlay, wall-projected video, PA, PTZ camera, broadband internet, Mac and PC computers, MIDI keyboard, software (Max/MSP/Jitter, Isadora, Digital Performer, etc.). In addition, LEMUR is constantly working on new instruments, which will be made available as they are created.

How much time will I be able to spend at LEMUR working on my project?

You can spend as much time as you want, subject to scheduling with LEMUR staff. Generally, someone is there Monday through Friday from 10 am until 8 pm, and weekend times can be arranged as necessary.

Does my work have to utilize LEMUR’s instruments and equipment?

Yes. A major goal of this residency program is to partner with a variety of artists to create new work for LEMUR instruments.

What length is my work expected to be?

For performances, we would like a minimum of 20 minutes of work. For music, a 40-45 minute set would be highly desirable. Installations would normally be ongoing, though we would hope that any one user would be engaged for 5 minutes or more.

Is there any stipend or other support money?

This is an unfunded residency program, so there is no stipend or support money. The support we provide is in the form of in-kind
donations of our time, space and resources.

Do I have to do a performance, or is an installation ok?

Installations are fine and encouraged. Preference will be given to interactive installations over non-interactive ones.

To realize my work, I want to create new software/Max patches/electronics but I don’t know how. Can someone at LEMUR help me?

Not at this time. We don’t have the resources to develop custom technology outside the scope of our own work. However, if you have a technologist that will commit to partnering with you, you are welcome to propose this.

I have a great idea but I’ve never done computer art before? Should I apply?

At the early stages of this program, we will probably not be able to support artists who do not have reasonable skills in implementing their work.

I live outside of New York City. Can you provide room and board?

We can’t, but you probably already have a friend with a sofa in New York City.

Will there be future opportunities to show the work I create after the end-of-month show?

The best work to come out of ReSiDeNt will likely have future opportunities to be shown. LEMUR stages performances and
installations around the world, and we are always looking to incorporate new work.

What are some examples of projects you will consider?

Compositions for the robots
Interactive performances with the robots and/or controllers
Interactive installations with the robots and/org controllers
Interactive dance with the robots
Theater pieces or performance art with the robots
Interactive video installations incorporating the robots

My discipline doesn’t fall into your listed categories. Can I still apply?

Definitely. These are simply examples, and we will consider work from any discipline if we feel it is possible to realize at our space.

Do I have to come in with a project idea from the beginning?

You do not have to come in with a fully formed project, but you should have an idea of what you want to do and should outline this in your application. You can develop the specifics of your project within the time frame of the residency. Also, feel free to bounce ideas off us before applying.

What if my work will take longer than a month to complete?

We can only devote one month of work time to each artist. If you need more time but can do your preliminary work off-site prior to the residency month, we will consider this.

Please feel free to contact us with any other questions you may have.

Flock is a full evening performance work for saxophone quartet, conceived to directly engage audiences in the composition of music by physically bringing them out of their seats and enfolding them into the creative process. During the performance, the four musicians and up to one hundred audience members move freely around the performance space. A computer vision system determines the locations of the audience members and musicians, and it uses that data to generate performance instructions for the saxophonists, who view them on wireless handheld displays mounted on their instruments. The data also drives the real-time generation of a multi-screen video animation and an electronic soundtrack.

Flock was commissioned by the Carnival Center for the Performing Arts in Miami. Additional support has been provided by the Georgia Tech Foundation and by the Seed Grant Program at Georgia Tech’s GVU Center. Flock’s premiere performances at the Carnival Center are additionally supported by the Funding Arts Network and are produced by iSAW.

This unique solo-show is a multi-media revelation of the human voice and its unimaginable intensity. Ten years research into human body movement, multi-sensory perception environments and digital processing has brought about this exceptional show performed by Julie Wilson-Bokowiec. Bodycoder - Voice is part of an ongoing experiment in connecting body movements with sound, intertwining the sensual with the sonic. The experiments render the voice multidimensional and examine how the natural movement vocabulary of the body can become an expressive medium and create and manipulate sound.

Only the energy, breath and raw fractured tonalities of the voice are employed to populate and animate the sound scape of Hand-to-Mouth. Mouth / Larynx and the hands of the performer engage in intimate dialogue in an act of sonic puppetry and ventriloquism.

Bodycoder - Voice features the Bodycoder System © the first generation of which was developed by company formally know as Electronic Dance Theatre in 1995/6. The primary expression functionality of the Bodycoder System is Kinaesonic. In terms of interactive technology the term Kinaesonic refers to the one-to-one, mapping of sonic effects to bodily movements. There are no pre-recorded soundfiles used in the live pieces of this program and no sound manipulations external to the performer’s control.

The program includes The Suicided Voice created in residency at the Banff Centre Canada, and Etch created in residency at the Confederation Centre for the Arts PEI Nova Scotia.

HAND-TO-MOUTH (for performer/vocalist, the Bodycoder System & live MSP) - Only the energy, breath and raw fractured tonalities of the voice are employed to populate and animate the soundscape of Hand-to-Mouth. Mouth/Larynx and the hands of the performer engage in intimate dialogue in an act of sonic puppetry and ventriloquism. This dexterous piece of sound manipulation is an overture to the full embodiment of sound manipulation in the following pieces.

AMERA (Tape: Electro-acoustic music)

THE SUICIDED VOICE (for performer/vocalist, the Bodycoder System, live MSP, video streaming & computer graphics). In this piece the acoustic voice of the performer is “suicided” and given up to digital processing and physical re-embodiment. Dialogues are created between acoustic and digital voices. Gender specific registers are willfully subverted and fractured. Extended vocal techniques make available unusual acoustic resonances that generate rich processing textures and spiral into new acoustic and physical trajectories that traverse culturally specific boundaries crossing from the human into the virtual, from the real into the mythical. In The Suicided Voice the voice, transformed and re-embodied within the interactive medium, becomes a fluid originality that is defined only by its own transmutations.

CHIMERA (Tape: Electro-acoustic music)

ETCH (for performer/vocalist, the Bodycoder System, live MSP, & computer graphics) - In ETCH extended vocal techniques, Yakut, open throat, overtone and Bell Canto singing are coupled with live interactive sound processing and manipulation. ETCH calls forth forna – building soundscapes of glitch infestations, howler tones, clustering sonic-amphibians, and swirling flocks of synthetic granular flyers. The visual content for this piece is created in a variety of 2D and 3D packages. In ETCH video content is manipulated on the screen by the performer using the same interactive protocols that govern sound manipulation. Visual content is mapped to the physical gestures of the performer and its live manipulation forms a significant part of the piece. As the performer conjures extraordinary voices out of the digital realm, so she weaves a multi-layered visual environment. In ETCH sound, image, and gesture combine to form a powerful ‘linguistic intent’. Etch was created in residency at the Confederation Centre for the Arts on Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia.

TECHNICAL & AESTHETICS

BODYCODER - VOICE features the Bodycoder System© the first generation of which was developed by the artists in 1995/6. The Bodycoder interface is a flexible sensor array worn on the body of a performer that sends data generated by movement to an MSP environment via radio. Movement data can be mapped in a variety of different ways to the live processing and manipulation of sound. All processed sound is derived from the live and acoustic voice of the performer. The Bodycoder also provides the performer with real-time access to processing parameters and patches within the MSP environment as well as control over the sensitivity of sensors. In this way all vocalisations, decision making, navigation of the MSP environment and qualities of expressivity are selected, initiated and manipulated by the performer. The primary expression functionality of the Bodycoder System is Kinaesonic. The term Kinaesonic is derived from the compound of two words: Kinaesthetic meaning the movement principles of the body and Sonic meaning sound. In terms of interactive technology the term Kinaesonic refers to the one-to-one, mapping of sonic effects to bodily movements. In our practice this is usually executed in real-time. There are no pre-recorded soundfiles used in the live pieces of this program and no sound manipulations external to the performer’s control.

Bringing together 3 Software’s - VVVV, Max/MSP and Reason the WiiWiiWiiWii thesis project provides a system allowing for a set of Wiimotes to become a syneasthetic musical instruments. WiiWiiWiiWii looks like fun – it uses the Wiimote and Nunchuk to produce sounds and their graphical counterparts. The representation of sound comes in the form of a branch like structure with ‘notes’ growing from it – a kind of real time evolving organic score. [blogged on dataisnature]

WiiWiiWiiWii was produced by Claudio Midolo, Edgar Castellanos, Natan Sinigaglia & Pedro Mari.

More about Virtual VJ:

VIRTUAL DJ: MOTION-ACTIVATED ELECTRONIC MUSIC, VIRTUAL REALITY & ROBOTICS - VIRTUAL DJ uses the tracking capabilities of the Gesture and Media System to allow one or more users to use space as an audio remix or performance tool. Users literally wave their arms, and as if by magic new audio loops are accessed, synthesizer filters are opened, samples are played, and drum loops are started. Simultaneously robot lights follow the users, dynamically changing in relation to their position and the audio.

The piece can be performed by one or two local users in a large space, but with the help of CANARIE, a version with one local performer and one remote performer can be performed over the internet at two geographically-removed sites. In this scenario, two identical presentations can be held, each with the ghostly presence of a remote interactor moving sounds and lights in tandem with the local performer.

Virtual DJ is a prototype for a new type of club- and network-based performance, and can be used by anyone from absolute musical neophyte to the expert performer. Virtual DJ seeks to find a new mode of performance and editing: one that is spontaneous, capable of changing dramatically from one performance to another, and above all, seamless.

Produced by CANARIE, as a part of their ANAST program.
Music, lighting design, interactive programming by Steve Gibson.
Networking software by Chong Zhang and Conroy Badger of APR, Inc.

As Hornof, Rogers and Halverson remark in their paper, “EyeMusic: Performing Live Music and Multimedia Compositions with Eye Movements“, the eye is ordinarily an organ of perception, but in EyeMusic it becomes a manipulator as well and creates an eye-controlled musical and visual composition.

As the piece progresses, clusters of dots and shapes move about a screen, with a central animated eye following and influencing their movements. The eye animation is a rendering of the tracking data taken from the movement of the performer’s pupils. In one section of the piece, the performer must avoid looking at certain objects on the screen. The challenge of such a performance requirement is made evident to the audience as they see the animated eye dart around in an attempt to avoid focusing on the object. If the focus and the object intersect, it has musical consequences. In other sections, the coordinates of the eye’s focal point on the screen affect pitch, timbre, and rhythm and as such, the piece explores a range of performative modes using its unique ocular interface. It is fascinating to watch and to listen to.