In June 2011, sound artist and experimental turntablist Maria Chavez created multiple site-specific sound art compositions. Rather than focusing on the immediate sound choices, Chavez's compositions are created for specific locations, and their acoustical characteristics allow for the ambiguity of reverberation, reflection, and refraction to enter into each composition. In order to create these conditions of possibility, Chavez worked with experimental composer and audio engineer Daniel Neumann to explore non-traditional formats of live performance and multi-channel diffusion. An altered perspective of listening was created as audience members stood at a distance from the sound sources.
Born in Peru, Maria Chavez resides in Brooklyn, New York. Her work is focused on short solo electro-acoustic sound pieces using a collection of new and broken needles that she calls “pencils of sound”, and a selection of records, which provide the palette for her work. Many of her live sound installations have focused on the paradox of time and the present moment, with many influences stemming from improvisation in contemporary art.
Daniel Neumann is a Brooklyn-based experimental composer and audio engineer, originally from Leipzig, Germany. He holds a master's degree in media art at the Academy of Visual Art Leipzig and also studied electronic music compositon under Emanuelle Casale. Daniel currently works as a curatorial assistant for Diapason Gallery, as the curator for the series Santos is Closed, as an independent composer and sound designer, and as an audio engineer for the Electronic Music Foundation, NYCEMF and Santos Party House in New York City
The Clocktower Audio Art Production Studio Program is made possible in part with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, celebrating 50 years of building strong, creative communities in New York State's 62 counties.
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