Imagining Sound at Central Features Contemporary Art

Photo by Suzanna Finley

My Sonic Fabric project (textile woven from cassette tape recorded with collages of sound) has been ongoing since the turn of the century. When it first began, I was adamant that it should be used to make things that can be touched and used in everyday life...I didn't want it to be treated like a precious object. 

(An aside: when I first moved to NYC with the original small pieces of fabric, I brought it to one of Louise Bourgeois' Sunday afternoon salons...when I showed it to Louise she said, "WHAT DOES IT DO?" I said, "It's for rituals!" She said, "THEN DO A RITUAL.")

The main idea for me was that each edition of fabric contained stored memory...trapped sound...a record of a moment in time that could only be accessed by imagining it. I would literally weave together sounds that might not otherwise be heard simultaneously...noises, music, spoken word from different parts of the world...to highlight the idea that all of these things are part of a single fabric. 

But it quickly became clear that people WANTED to experiment with the fabric's still-magnetic properties...and if the garbled sound that the fabric emits when a tape head is drawn across its surface is of interest, who was I to say, "Sorry, no, that's not what it's really about"? It was a treat to me that other people were gaining enjoyment from it. And so the device that activates the audible properties of the material became part of the project. 

As I have learned and my ideas have evolved over the course of the past 17 years, I have realized that:

1. Pieces that have been made from Sonic Fabric are treated as precious no matter how much I might want them not to be. 

2. That the fabric emits sound is irrelevant, and actually detracts from the concept.

3. The project reaches its fullest potential as part of collaborative efforts. 

By far the most successful Sonic Fabric project thus far happened in Galicia in collaboration with Galician musicians, students, and organizations...my only role was to supply the idea and facilitate the production of the yardage...the sounds and music contained within, as well as the resulting works (garments based on traditional Galician costume), were entirely the vision of others with whom it was a joy and an honor to work. 

Over these many years it has also been a delight to work with my dear and extremely talented friend Julio Cesar whose idea it was to make a wearable object...namely one that is worn by those who often find themselves in positions of power...from Sonic Fabric. Julio's elegant yet subtly subversive vibe-emitting neckties are infiltrating boardrooms, courtrooms, gala events, and ivory towers around the world. 

I have only a very small amount of Sonic Fabric yardage left, and no plans to make more anytime soon (it is woven at a small family-run textile mill in New England and its manufacture is quite a resource-intensive undertaking). So when the opportunity arose to include Sonic Fabric in the Imagining Sound exhibition at Central Features Contemporary Art, I decided to do something I've never done with Sonic Fabric before: I stretched it on bars like canvas. In this form it is a precious object on white walls, as I had never intended. But visitors are imagining the sound contained within, as I always hoped they would. 

The journeys on which each project seems to lead...the magnitude learned, paradoxes revealed, obstacles confronted, and alliances made along the way...are what one sees (or hears) in experiencing a creative practitioner's "work". For me these things constitute a driving force and are the impetus to continue.

http://www.sonicfabric.com

Texas Design Now at CAMH

Three Sonic Fabric dresses are currently on display as part of the Texas Design Now exhibition at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston. I'll be there at 2pm on September 26, 2015 to participate in a panel discussion.

re:purposed at the ringling

i'll be at The Ringling museum in sarasota, florida this saturday for a variety of re:purposed exhibition festivities, including a panel discussion and a site/time-specific performance in collaboration with fellow re:purposed artist Jill Sigman. it's really a thrill for sonic fabric to be in the same room with works by so many artists i admire, including Nick Cave - Visual Artist and El Anatsui.

the lovely catalog contains a series of interviews with the artists by curator matthew mclendon. interestingly (but perhaps not surprisingly...), it turns out there are many commonalities between the backgrounds and approaches of the practitioners included in the show...

while all of us do indeed incorporate repurposed materials into our work, several of us made a point to mention in our interviews that this is not necessarily intended as an ecological statement...rather, the impulse to repurpose is by-product of our ways of thinking and our lifestyles...many of us grew up in families where re-use and care for and appreciation of objects (and their associated histories) was a normal part of everyday life.

cassette tape, for me, has been a powerful and magical substance since the days of my high school punk band when we would record jam sessions endlessly. during the same era, we used strands from the broken ones on small racing sailboats as wind-indicating "tell-tales". it was a part of everyday life for us then...as it continues to be for me today.

jon hassell's MAP2

I recently came upon the legendary Jon Hassell's work for pre-recorded cassette tape square and hand-held magnetic reader device in a 1969 issue of SOURCE: music of the avant garde. More on the project, including a video of me "performing" the work, here: http://alycesantoro.com/MAP2.html

Rhythmanalysis: Atmosphere of Taos, NM

Julian Mock and I were invited to Taos, NM to create a sound collage for the inaugural Paseo Festival. Over the course of several days, Julian and I recorded samples from the local soundscape with some help from ten local school kids aged 8 to 14. On September 26th, the day of the opening, we installed a "listening station" marked by strings of sonic fabric flags beneath an overhang near the Taos Center for the Arts. That evening, hundreds of passers-by stopped to listen and discuss the sonic fabric of Taos.

Salon at Justice Snow's, April 6, 2014

I'll be performing a new piece for tape loops and radionic garment (OM-edition sonic fabric skirt with black velvet silence ruffle) at the Salon at Justice Snow's in Aspen, Colorado on April 6.

Also pleased to be able to offer the OM ruffle skirt by custom order.

HOLIDAY SALE

$20 off all neckties in the shop, now until the end of the year.

SONIC FABRIC NECTKIES: OM EDITION

Introducing OM-edition sonic fabric neckties for Father's Day 2013! This edition of fabric is recorded with a single note: the OM tone (136.1 Hz). This is often the tone that Tibetan Buddhist monks chant the mantra OM to, and also the tone to which the Javanese gamalan is often tuned. These (ethically-produced, hand-made in nyc) ties are available for the sale price of $100 thru June 2013. Please visit the SHOP page for details. 

solo exhibition in nyc jan 10 - feb 16

Philosoprops & Ontological Apparatus from the Center for the Obvious & (Im)Permacultural Research on exhibit at Klemens Gasser and Tanja Grunert Gallery, 542 W19th St, NYC from January 10 until february 16, 2013. 

Tell-Tail Thangas (After Sandy) are a set of 2 sailboat sails (21' x 10' and 17' x 5') made of sonic fabric, a textile woven from cassette tape. The recordings contained in this edition of fabric include sound-samples collected on and under the streets of New York City during the 5 years immediately following 9/11/2001. The "Between Stations" album is available for free download.  Tell-Tail Thangas (After Sandy) were created in December of 2012 especially for the cathedral-like lower gallery at Gasser-Grunert, which was entirely submerged during Hurricane Sandy. The sails, pointing to the heavens, are symbols of resurrection, resilience, reverence, and cooperation with nature.

slow numbers at show room in nyc

a 24' scroll made of sonic fabric is now on view as part of SLOW NUMBERS at SHOW ROOM, 170 suffolk street on the lower east side of manhattan until july 22.

very nice write-up in the "goings-on about town" section of the new yorker magazine:

"The standout is Alyce Santoro’s ominous-looking black scroll, woven from audiotape; stroke it with the provided device and it emits a white-noise whisper.'

A = 432 Hz and the OM (136.1 Hz, C#) edition of sonic fabric

Sometime during the mid-1990's I read in a book about yoga that the mantra OM is considered in Buddhist and Hindu traditions to be the primordial tone of the universe, a vibration which forms the basis of all things. As a musician and scientist, this sounded like an esoteric analog to the "Grand Unification Theory" being sought by quantum physicists. I decided in that moment that the existence of a fundamentally unifying vibration was something that I could believe in more strongly than most anything else. Shortly thereafter, I had the Sanskrit OM symbol tattooed onto the back of my neck as a permanent reminder.

After all these years and lots more research, the idea of a primordial tone still intrigues me, and in fact inspires much of my work – especially sonic fabric. I have created several editions of sonic fabric woven from cassette tape recorded with densely-layered compositions made of found, collected, and created sounds and tones. That the resulting material emits a garbled, underwater-like drone when a tape head is drawn along its surface helps to illustrate the notion of a single underlying vibration.

Although I've been mainly focused on weaving disparate sounds together into a single fabric, I've often wondered what kind of sound material woven from tape recorded with only a single tone might emit. But which tone to choose?

OM seemed like an obvious choice...but what precise tone, if any, is associated with OM? After some research, we discovered references to the frequency of 136.1 Hz, which lies between C and C# in western tuning (A = 440 Hz). We also noticed C# mentioned as the note to which male Indian vocalists will pitch their tonic note when singing with the tamboura. Some say it is the note that Tibetan Buddhist monks use as the base tone for chanting the OM mantra (although I was not able to confirm this through a very rudimentary study - I measured the pitch of Tibetan monks chanting OM in various YouTube videos using a chromatic tuner, and could detect no particularly dominant tone).

So, if 136.1 Hz is the OM tone, why? Is it based directly on something quantifiable in nature, such as the cosmic background noise, Kepler's Harmony of the Spheres, or the Schumann Resonances (the constant rumble within the Earth's ionosphere created by lightning strikes)? Interestingly, while 136.1 Hz is between a C and C# using  standard concert pitch (A = 440 Hz), it is precisely a C# when A is tuned to 432 Hz.

Some musicians, scientists, and scholars believe that many ancient Egyptian instruments, Stradivarius violins, and the music of Verdi and other western classical composers may have been tuned to A = 432 Hz. Some believe that tuning A to 432 Hz instead of 440 Hz may actually be healthier for the human body, or even society at large. While the number 432 may or may not be somehow inherently in tune with the forces of nature, it cannot be denied that medical doctors use the resonance of tuning forks  in C = 256 or 128 in the A = 432 system to detect bone fractures.

While all of this is utterly fascinating to us and begs further research, we have not yet come to any conclusions about how or why humans first arrived at 432 Hz or 136.1 Hz.

What we can say for certain is that experiments with the OM edition of sonic fabric are providing some surprising results. The sound recorded onto the fabric - a pure 136.1 Hz tone -  was generated digitally so that it would have no overtones. The normal speed that audiotape runs in a cassette player is 1 and 7/8 inches per second. We dragged the reader along the surface of the fabric at varying speeds, striving to approximate a mechanical effect. We used the largest, most sensitive amplifier in the studio in order to pick up the fullest range of tones possible. The tape head in our hacked Walkman "reader" device is wide enough to pick up several (perhaps 5 or 6) of the compressed strands of tape in the fabric at once. We expected to hear an even, steady, single tone. Instead we heard multiple low tones, some in the range of 136.1 Hz. 

Is it possible that when several strands of tape recorded with 136.1 Hz are "read" simultaneously at the same speed, that several tones are generated? Would this be the case using other frequencies? 

Much more experimentation is needed. Your input is welcome! 

Please stay tuned! 

Alyce Santoro & Julian Mock

of Projects for Prepared Ear and the

Center for the Obvious & (Im)permacultural Research

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: