Sound Symposium XVIII
SOUND SYMPOSIUM XVIII
July 8-16 2016
Opening reception / performance: Saturday, July 9
1-3pm
Free. All welcome.
VISIONS OF SOUND //installation
TOM HAMILTON: City of Vorticity- electronic sound environment
EASTERN EDGE GALLERY
VISIONS OF SOUND //installation
JUDE WEIRMEIR: Intermedia
EASTERN EDGE GALLERY
Tom Hamilton: City of Vorticity (2014)
City of Vorticity alludes to the spinning property of an imaginary particle as it is carried along in a circular path. The “city” is a collection of sonic events all occurring independently but yet organized by an underlying recursive force. It presents layers of electronic sound that gradually shift through kaleidoscopic rearrangement.
This electronic sound environment can also serve as the foundation for a group of improvising performers. Interested participants are asked only that they let this environment inform their performance by regarding what they hear as an “aural score.”
The listener enters the room to find a work-in-progress. One can dwell there, leave, return – it doesn’t matter. A performer may the enter the room unannounced and stay for an unspecified duration. The performer finishes and exits, leaving the listener to continue experiencing the environment as the predominant sound source. It is uncertain to the listener what happens next.
In memory of Robert Ashley, 1930-2014
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TOM HAMILTON has composed and performed electronic music for over 40 years, and his work with electronic music originated in the late-60s era of analog synthesis. His ongoing series of concerts, installations and recordings contrast structure with improvisation and textural electronics with acoustic instruments. Rather than addressing traditional modes of expression, presentation and observation, Hamilton often explores the interaction of many simultaneous layers of activity, prompting the use of “present-time listening” on the part of both performer and listener.
Hamilton was a 2005 Fellow of the Civitella Ranieri Foundation, participating in a residency at the foundation’s center in Umbria. Hamilton’s performing and recording colleagues have included Peter Zummo, Bruce Gremo, Karlheinz Essl, Bruce Arnold, Bruce Eisenbeil, Rich O’Donnell, Thomas Buckner, Al Margolis, and id m theft able, and he has worked with Composers Inside Electronics as well.
Hamilton has released 16 CDs of his music; his CD London Fix received an award in the Prix Ars Electronica, and a 2 CD set of his electronic music of the 1970s was named one of The Wire’s Top 50 Reissues of 2010. Hamilton was the co-director of the 2004 Sounds Like Now festival, and he co-produced the Cooler in the Shade/Warmer by the Stove new music series in New York for 14 years.
Since 1990, Hamilton has been a member of the late composer Robert Ashley‘s opera ensemble, performing sound processing and mixing in both recordings and concerts. His audio production can be found in over 60 CD releases of new and experimental music.