INSIDE THE DREAMING MACHINE
Performance: Wednesday, April 30 at 8pm
Circuit Bending Workshop: Saturday, May 3 at 2pm
Sound installation presented by 4ms Pedals (St. Louis)
Part of FUSE BOX 2008
Gallery Hours: Sa-Su, April 26-27,1-6pm; M-F, April 28-May 2, 5-7pm
inside the dreaming machine
Come INSIDE THE DREAMING MACHINE, where the brain is an unfolding lotus blossom and waking experience commingles with the subconscious dimensions of the dreaming mind. We chirp, chat, splash and om slowly and spasmodically around you, morphing strange organo-electronic sounds as you float within the hexagon of surrounding speakers, flashing light and audio stimulation in meditation-inducing patterns.
Comfortably seated within a ring of sound, the audience, a host of Furbys and other plastic electro-anthropomorphs close their eyes to stare into the central Dreamachine’s rotating flashing lights. Sounds spin around, bounce side to side and pop in and out, as the experience slowly builds on the brain’s alpha-rhythms, inducing meditation states in all listeners, organic and electronic. A central Bend Matrix receives photo-feedback from the Dreamachine, routing and commanding circuit bent toys to perform in a cyber-hobo player-piano orchestra.
Circuit Bending Workshop
Take apart cheap electronic kids’ toys, short-circuit them, and turn them into goofy glitchy (psuedo-)musical instruments! Circuit bending is the creative art of modifying electronics to act in new ways: bent, but not broken, making sounds never intended to come out of a Furby’s mouth.
In this workshop we will disassemble electronic devices, add controls and jacks to glitch points, and re-assemble them as working sound generators. Bring your own kiddie toy or musical device, or pick from our thrift store selection. Participants will have the option of connecting their ‘bent project to a circuit-bending sequencer/controller “brain” in a performance after the final workshop.
All tools and supplies will be provided: an assortment of pre-bent toys, soldering irons, wire tools, miscellaneous buttons, knobs, jacks, and electronic components. Or, feel free to bring your own tools/projects to be bent.
Cost: free; Duration: 2 hours; Maximum participants: 6 per session
About 4ms Pedals
4ms Pedals has been designing and building innovative audio electronics since 1994, using original analog and digital designs in unexpected ways to challenge to the musician-instrument relationship. We give musicians the power to create transcendental performances, and instruments the power to play the musician.
About Fuse Box 2008
A confluence of theater, film, dance, visual art and music from April 25 to May 3, 2008 at various galleries and performance venues across Austin. For more information, visit http://www.bluetheater.org.
