the sonic fabric of galicia

dear friends, i've recently returned from galicia – northwest coastal spain – where i presented a series of sound art workshops and collaborated with musicians, sound artists, and designers on a special edition of sonic fabric. it was truly an honor to have been invited by julio goméz of sinsalaudio and the cidade da cultura to create this edition recorded with 60 tracks of sound, music, and spoken word from this unique and sublimely beautiful part of the world.

during the 10 years that this project has been evolving, one thing has become amply clear: sonic fabric becomes most alive when it is shared.

in fact, i believe that anytime ideas, inspiration, cultures, technologies meet in a spirit of earnest and mutual respect, generosity, reciprocity, and collaboration, evolution happens. i find improvisational music to be a pure, profound, and immediate expression of precisely this phenomenon. while improvisational music has long been extremely appealing to me, it is a rare and precious treat to find fellow musicians with whom to create it.

i feel extremely grateful that the sonic fabric project has provided opportunities to improvise with those in other parts of the world. the invitation to go to galicia, to experience first hand the galegan language (a close relative of portuguese), to learn about the celtic influence on regional music and culture, to take in the landscape, food, and drink, to share skills and ideas and collaborate with fellow artists, to make new friends, and to quite literally weave these experiences together - this has been a critical and beautiful stage in the evolution of sonic fabric.

so many people contributed to and participated in making this project happen. many thanks to julio goméz and luis campos of sinsalaudio, to the cidade da cultura de galicia in santiago de compostela, to all of the musicians and sound artists who contributed tracks, to fashion design students at the university of vigo adrián rivas, antonio santos, and david del ríothe who transformed the fabric into phenomenal garments inspired by traditional dress, to fellow sound/video artists juan-gil lopez, mauro sanin (aka ariel ninas), horacio dieguez gonzalez, and pablo orza, to usa projects and to every single person who offered enthusiasm and support in any way, shape, or form.

to those who purchased yardage of the soon-to-be-released OM edition (C#, 136.1 Hz) of fabric, i apologize for the delay in getting it to you! fabric will be shipped in mid-january. if you are not on the reserve list and would still like to have a piece of this edition, please don't hesitate to let me know!

there are more images from the sonic fabric adventure in galicia on flickr and facebook, and sounds from the workshops on soundcloud.

feliz ano novo a todos,
alyce

sonic garments designed by fashion students

from the special galician-edition of sonic fabric, several beautiful garments were made by fashion students from the university of vigo: adrián rivas, antonio santos, and david del río.

sonic fabric va a galicia

i am taking off on wednesday for spain, sponsored by sinsalaudio, the cidade da cultura de galicia, and all of the generous people who contributed to the creation of this very special edition of sonic fabric by offering support thru usa projects, or by purchasing yardage. please watch this spot for updates!

OM = C# 136.1 Hz

based on an image from The World Is Sound: Nada Brahma: Music and the Landscape of Consciousness, by Joachim-Ernst Berendt 

the sonic fabric custom editions project ended successfully, having raised enough funds to weave a 125 yard batch of fabric. the cidade da cultura de galicia will be receiving a 30-yard edition containing a blend of music from this unique region of spain.

i will also be weaving 40 yards containing only a single note - C# 136.1Hz. this tone is the base note of the sitar and tamboura, and is the note upon which tibetan monks have been basing the OM chant for thousands of years. it is considered by many in indian and tibetan cultures to be the primordial sound of the universe.

it is not too late to have a hand in the making of this very special custom edition - by purchasing yardage, you are making this project possible. please visit the SHOP page for details.

custom editions project EXTENDED until sept 6th!

there's still time to be part of the custom editions project! please visit the project page for more info!

voidness dress in "power of making" exhibition at the victoria & albert museum in london

i am very proud to announce that the voidness dress will be making an appearance as part of the "power of making" exhibition at the victoria and albert museum in london opening on sept 6.

sonic fabric custom editions project in rolling stone & ecouterre!

please check out the lovely piece in ecouterre about the custom editions project. there's also a nice blurb in rolling stone!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SONIC FABRIC, A TEXTILE WOVEN FROM CASSETTE TAPE: NOW TAKING REQUESTS!

From now until August 30th conceptual and sound artist Alyce Santoro is accepting commissions from musicians, designers, architects, collectors – anyone interested in collaborating to produce a personalized, custom-recorded edition of Sonic Fabric, a versatile, durable, audible (!) textile woven from audiocassette tape.

Alyce’s works made from Sonic Fabric have been featured on the CREATE episode of the Sundance Channel’s Big Ideas for a Small Planet, and are exhibited in museums and galleries around the world (including such venues as the Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona, the Gwangju Design Biennale in Seoul, Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, and in London at the Victoria and Albert Museum's upcoming Power of Making exhibition).

Alyce is offering to weave 20 yard editions of Sonic Fabric in exchange for tax-deductible (!) contributions through a new non-profit crowdsourcing platform for artists. All funds generated will go towards a site-specific Sonic Fabric piece she has been invited to create for the City of Culture of Galicia in Santiago de Compostella Spain this December.

For more information, please visit Alyce’s USA Project page at http://www.unitedstatesartists.org/project/sonic_fabric_a_textile_woven_from_audiotape

Or http://www.sonicfabric.com
SONIC FABRIC - custom editions! project updates via facebook
@alyceobvious on twitter

please allow me to weave you a small edition of custom sonic fabric

from now until august 30th, in exchange for your tax-deductible contribution, i will weave 20 yards of sonic fabric especially for you, containing any sounds you wish:

new short version of sonic fabric factory movie

the making of sonic fabric, a textile woven from cassette tape. from alyce santoro on Vimeo.

sonic fabric dress at futurotextile 2011

one of the sonic fabric superhero dresses, along with the factory movie, is currently on display as part of futurotextile 2011 at the museu maritim de barcelona in spain.

cassette tape & crossbones

what with all the recent fuss over wikileaks and anonymous operations coming to their defense, i happened to noticed that the pirate bay - a popular bit torrent filesharing site - uses a very nice illustration of a pirate ship as their logo. upon closer inspection, i saw that on the sail is a super-fantastic image of a cassette tape and cross bones.

cassette tape and crossbones?? how fantastic is THAT?! i did some research and discovered that this was a design used in the 1980's by the British Phonograph Industry to go with their Home Taping Is Killing Music campaign. naturally, it was immediately co-opted by the very "pirates" BPI hoped to target.

the image fits so perfectly with sonic fabric - the idea of sharing, collaboration, the weaving together of seemingly disparate ideas to form a common whole - not to mention that sonic fabric is actually made of tape! i believe strongly in the notion of creative commons - that society functions best when information is freely shared. in order for this system to work effectively, it is imperative that sources of ideas be acknowledged and attributed to the greatest extent possible (reciprocity is critical not only in matters of intellectual property, but in all matters of society and community as well).

i am planning to make a limited-edition batch of flags silkscreened with this logo, to be offered for sale or trade. i will donate part of any funds generated to causes related to freedom of press and speech. please let me know if you'd like to receive one.