About
Motivated by the ethos of mid 20th century musical experimentalism, Mad Hatter projects challenge existing forms of musical expression and explore new possibilities for creative sonic practices in the 21st century through bold collaborations and intrepid solo endeavors.
What does it mean to be a musician in the 21st century? Is the term "musician" still useful in the broad context of contemporary sonic practices? The critical questions posed by mid-20th century composers on the nature and purpose of music -- questions by Cage, Feldman, Cardew, Fluxus, et al. -- still resonate today. And with extraordinary developments in digital tools for audio editing and music composition (sampling, splicing, signal processing, algorithmic and other forms of computerized sound production), there is a vast means of sound creation possibilities at the disposal of composers and performers. Perhaps this too (the composer/performer binary) is an anachronistic construct in the 21st century. In any case, the questions posed by contemporary musical experimentalism don't have easy answers. In fact, contemporary musical experimentalism often complicates discourse by questioning some of the most fundamental musical concepts: What is music? What is an instrument? Musical Mad Scientist, Mark Applebaum, notoriously places this sort of "ontological pressure" on the nature of music and musical instruments through his own works. But critically, he doesn't attempt to directly answer the fundamental questions his works appear to beg. Rather, motivated by artistic inquiry and creative exploration, he hopes listener-viewers of his works will respond with something more personal: "What the hell was that? And can I hear some more." This is a delicious set of questions, and I hope listener-viewers of the Mad Hatter projects will ask the same.
What does it mean to be a musician in the 21st century? Is the term "musician" still useful in the broad context of contemporary sonic practices? The critical questions posed by mid-20th century composers on the nature and purpose of music -- questions by Cage, Feldman, Cardew, Fluxus, et al. -- still resonate today. And with extraordinary developments in digital tools for audio editing and music composition (sampling, splicing, signal processing, algorithmic and other forms of computerized sound production), there is a vast means of sound creation possibilities at the disposal of composers and performers. Perhaps this too (the composer/performer binary) is an anachronistic construct in the 21st century. In any case, the questions posed by contemporary musical experimentalism don't have easy answers. In fact, contemporary musical experimentalism often complicates discourse by questioning some of the most fundamental musical concepts: What is music? What is an instrument? Musical Mad Scientist, Mark Applebaum, notoriously places this sort of "ontological pressure" on the nature of music and musical instruments through his own works. But critically, he doesn't attempt to directly answer the fundamental questions his works appear to beg. Rather, motivated by artistic inquiry and creative exploration, he hopes listener-viewers of his works will respond with something more personal: "What the hell was that? And can I hear some more." This is a delicious set of questions, and I hope listener-viewers of the Mad Hatter projects will ask the same.
Current Projects
human+
Human+ is an open artistic project inspired by my interest in producing works that coordinate human and artificial intelligences into “cyborgic” composites. As computerized technology becomes an increasingly integral part of daily life in the 21st century — through “smart” gadgets, data collection, various forms of automation, the growing usage of drones, etc. — I’m interested in the prospect of creative works that reflect the technologically augmented experience of contemporary life. I like to think of this existential condition as “Human+”.
A means of artistic co-production, the pieces in the Human+ project offer a bold vision for the interaction of human and mechanical bodies: of altering and extending the body of the human performer; and of enhancing the dynamic performer-instrument system with a mechanical prosthesis; of creating a chimerical human-robotic performer composite. I’m interested in playing with the presumed strengths of robotic performers (rhythmic precision/speed) and human performers (expression/lyricism). I think pieces in which the human and robotic performers share and trade these strengths are a beautiful metaphor for how the Human+ condition is constituted of both conflicting and potentiating forces. |
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ScreenPlay
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ScreenPlay is an idiom-free improvisation quartet with Taylor Ackley (bass, vocals, mandocello, percussion), Wil Dannenberg (french horn), Michael Joviala (piano), and Brian Smith (percussion). ScreenPlay performs animated graphic notational works with film-like scores projected onto a screen for audiences to watch in real-time as the ensemble renders the moving shapes and forms as expressive musical content. Screens -- a blank surface onto which content is projected -- are also a rich metaphor for the processes by which visual and sonic art can emerge from "tabula rasa" conditions. In addition to screen-mediated compositions, ScreenPlay also uses this blank slate approach to music making as a springboard for producing wildly creative and beautiful free-form improvisations.
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DataPlay
DataPlay is a project to develop animated graphic notational works based on large-scale data sets.
The vision for this project is to commission composers and visual artists to utilize a data set of their choice – scientific, social, economic, or environmental – sufficiently large to fuel a robust computational visualization process. The visualization of the data will be generative, creating moving shapes and forms that are projected on a screen and will vary subtly from one performance to another. With open instrumentation, the forms and motion of the data visualization will be interpreted by live performers as musical notation.
I conceive of this project as a collaborative performance of computer-aided data visualization and corporeally-mediated sonification that merges sight, sound, human and artificial intelligence into a syncretic inter-sensory aesthetic experience. In an era of “big data,” I think a project like this resonates with contemporary beliefs and practices of data collection. I also think it has the potential to refresh audience relationships with critical issues like incarceration rates, changing oceanic conditions, poverty, and social mobility. These pieces offer meaningful ways for artists to use the tools of their trade to engage with a variety of societal and political concerns.
The vision for this project is to commission composers and visual artists to utilize a data set of their choice – scientific, social, economic, or environmental – sufficiently large to fuel a robust computational visualization process. The visualization of the data will be generative, creating moving shapes and forms that are projected on a screen and will vary subtly from one performance to another. With open instrumentation, the forms and motion of the data visualization will be interpreted by live performers as musical notation.
I conceive of this project as a collaborative performance of computer-aided data visualization and corporeally-mediated sonification that merges sight, sound, human and artificial intelligence into a syncretic inter-sensory aesthetic experience. In an era of “big data,” I think a project like this resonates with contemporary beliefs and practices of data collection. I also think it has the potential to refresh audience relationships with critical issues like incarceration rates, changing oceanic conditions, poverty, and social mobility. These pieces offer meaningful ways for artists to use the tools of their trade to engage with a variety of societal and political concerns.