Audio visual performance for Steve Kurtz benefit
Sound Treatment Created using Pro Tools
Hysteria was a collaborative audiovisual performance between my faculty advisor and myself. Dr. Alessandro Imperato used VDMX from Vidvoxx and I used Pro Tools in an unorthodox fashion to perform the sound manipulation. After conferencing with Alessandro to create a conceptual focus, I arranged 45 minutes of audio in a linear fashion on the Pro Tools timeline. The sound treatment consisted of all original material which I recorded previous to the performance. I recorded sample sound fx and original underscore, and composite sound design. All "Score" tracks were bussed out to four auxiliary "fx" tracks where various plug-ins resided. This afforded me the ability to make the composition nonlinear; by routing the audio through auxiliary tracks, a feedback loop was created. This allowed me to improvise a performance while using Pro Tools in a manner that would not make it crash. Technology can often be very unstable, and in a performance all of the equipment is "Mission Critical", hence I needed everything to work. The audio from my performance was also fed to Alessandro's computer as a control signal, and to a DVCPRO 50 camera recording the performance single system. This allowed me the possibility to gain some control over Dr. Imperato's visual performance, while making a recording at the highest possible fidelity.
The exhibition was created to promote awareness surrounding the issues of Critical Art Ensemble member, Steve Kurtz. An artist and professor at the University of Buffalo, Kurtz was arrested by the FBI in May 2004 on suspected charges of bioterrorism. In July 2004, Kurtz was acquitted of all terrorism related charges. However, he still awaits preceding charges for criminal mail fraud and wire fraud. Many see Kurtz’s treatment as a form of censorship due to the Patriot Act and Mass Media. The collaborative video performance Hysteria, is in response to the panic that ensues by combining mass media ubiquity and information overload, with fear and consumption.
Copyright © 2006 Keith Conway. All rights reserved. | algirhythm@gmail.com