This piece depict the moments after being unjustly struck by something: a knife, a tooth, or an insult. All of this spills onto a piano that “plays by itself,” seeming to struggle for autonomy, when in reality, it’s being more controlled than ever. For that, I used a mixed technique of sending and returning MIDI signals, blending organic ideas played on the piano and then digitized, in contrast with completely quantized elements coming from the MIDI to the instrument.
This concert was curated by Sam Anthem and hosted by The School of the Arts Institute of Chicago and Experimental Sound Studio.
This piece was born as an attempt to materialize a situation we witnessed on a bus in Chicago. In this context, the clash of different languages and the confusion of translation gave rise to an uncomfortable yet flavorful scene. The initial sketches took the form of precarious notes to capture what was observed, then it was translated into sound. To achieve this, I used a percussive treatment of the guitar based on the resonance of its open strings. I altered these by creating two groups of tunings (each consisting of 3 consecutive strings) in such a way that these would vibrate according to the part of the body that has been hit.
On the other hand, the recited voice plays a game of question and answer with an automated translation. This robotic attempt aims to exemplify everything that is lost when translating ideas from the native language to acquired ones. The graphic score arises as a result of some guiding drawings I made during the composition process, and with the idea of not wasting any material, it seemed like a good opportunity to open up its interpretation.
Thanks to my friend Sarah Lutkenhaus, who not only helped me with the best strategies for illustrating my ideas but also with the layout of the score.
I don’t consider my version to be definitive one, and I believe I am still working on expressing these discomforts in a sonic form. It’s a first attempt.
Live at High Concept Labs in the context of Waveforms 2023 (SAIC 2023):
This Sunday, January 8, will be the last day to enjoy the exhibition ANDER: Resistencia Cultural en El Trolley y Matucana 19 at the National Museum of Fine Arts.
ANDER is a multidisciplinary showcase designed by José Délano and curated by Juan José Santos that portrays two emblematic spaces of the Chilean underground culture of the eighties. These places were key to artistic and recreational development in times of dictatorship. This exhibition was praised by critics on the Artforum.com site and on prominent chilean platforms such as Artishockrevista.com. In this project I was in charge of the implementation of sound and image. Due to the hybrid nature of the exhibition, we had to use different devices to achieve the expected result. There are a total of 25 raspberry pi that are connected to projectors, CRT TVs and LCD screens. For the sound, we use headphones and build 6 custom-made directional speakers that hang from the ceiling. This allowed us to generate different acoustic atmospheres, reminiscent of the ambient sounds of the bohemian spaces of that time.
The live presentation of “El Himno Universal de los Perros” is now available. This piece was composed for the 24th anniversary of the Productora Mutante (Santiago, Chile) that was broadcast on the platforms of Experimental Sound Estudio (Chicago, USA).
Modified monochord, contact microphones and effect pedals. I recommend listening to it with headphones.
