71 South

Recorded at Menemsha Beach on Martha's Vineyard.  

S U N   B O X E S 
Sun Boxes is a solar powered sound installation.  It’s comprised of twenty speakers 
operating independently, each powered by the sun via solar panels. Inside each Sun Box is a PC board that has a recorded guitar note loaded and programmed to play continuously in a loop.  These guitar notes collectively make a Bb chord.  Because the loops are different in length, once the piece begins they continually overlap and the piece slowly evolves over time. 

The piece creates space; it’s an environment for one to enter and exit.   The footprint this environment occupies is similar to that of a city.  A metropolis. It’s a burst of technology in the middle of nature.  Unlike most cities I have been to, it does not just take over the space. Rather Sun Boxes interfaces with the environment and collaborates with nature. It is the perfect combination of technology and nature that create art, an environment, and a metropolis. Participants are encouraged to walk amongst the speakers, and surround themselves with the piece.  Certain speakers will be closer and, therefore, louder so the piece will sound different to different people in different positions throughout the array.  Allowing the audience to move around the piece will create a unique experience for everyone. 

In addition, the participants are encouraged to wander through the speakers, which will alter the composition as they move.  Given the option two people will take different paths through the array and hear the composition differently.  Sun Boxes is not just one composition, but, many. 

There are no batteries involved, so Sun Boxes are reliant on the sun.  When the sun sets the music stops and doesn’t start until the sun rises.  The piece changes as the length of the day changes.  Since the amount of sunlight varies from day to day so does the composition of Sun Boxes. 

We are all reliant on the sun.  It is refreshing to be reminded of this.  Our lives have filled up with technology.  But we still need the sun and so does Sun Boxes.  Karlheinze Stockhausen once said “using Short-wave radios in pieces was like improvising with the world.”  Similarly The Sun Boxes are collaborating with the planet and it’s relation to the sun.

http://installfilm.com/

Sun Boxes sample

M B  8 9

I think it started when I was a kid.  I had a mild interest in sports.  I was amazed to find out that innings get added to a baseball game when there is a tie.  But what was really amazing was that they keep adding them on until there's a winner. The thought of a game lasting a few days was great.  I thought it would be really cool if the game lasted a year.  And what if the game lasted several years?  I had a vision of all these baseball players running around in weathered uniforms and long white beards.  Now that would be something; to continue a game for the rest of your life.

MB 89 is an attempt for me to play a continuous piece of music that spans the greater part of my life.  Unlike a composition with a discrete beginning and ending that may be played over and over, MB 89 is a composition played once, continuously; spaces between performances are to be treated as musical rests.  Instead of many starts and finishes there is constant music.  Thus MB 89 is a reference point in my ever-changing life.

MB 89 is not to be merely conceived, written, and performed.  Rather, I have just realized MB 89's presence in my life and have decided to acknowledge it.  It will be an ongoing endeavor for the rest of my life.

The first MB 89 performance was a series of live radio broadcasts on the UMASS radio station WMUA.  Mike Burke DJ extraordinaire was a neighbor of mine when I first moved to Northampton.  We quickly became friends due to our late night talks about music.  So every Thursday in August 1997 MB 89 was broadcasted from Mike Burke's radio show.

Since then, the presentation of MB 89 has evolved into a timeless environment for people to enter and exit at will.  The concept for this installation is to create a space of subtle movement where people can be part of the environment and absorb MB 89 any way they like.

Three Cylinders of metal and fabric will stand in the room, from within the cylinder will be a Bass Clarinet generating a drone with electronics.  Lights will accompany the drone.  It will be a 4-hour performance.

The performance is presented in 4-hour increments and is designed for the audience to come and go as they please.  It is best to find a space in the room and listen for a while leave and then come back.  

http://installfilm.com/

MB 89 sample

C U B EM U S I C is an installation incorporating, sound, light and sculpture. There are six 4 foot by 4 foot cubes constructed of aluminum. Each cube has a series of different geometric shapes cut out of the sides. From within each cube emanates a different lighting pattern from three sources as well as a different four-note chord swelling in volume. Together the chords create a thick and dense web of sound that constantly changes. The sounds of C U B EM U S I C engulf the listener. The lights glow and decay in varying patterns through the geometric shapes casting shadows all over the room. The entire space becomes C U B EM U S I C, a throbbing, pulsing environment for one to enter and leave at will.

http://installfilm.com/

Craig Colorusso