Public Bodies explores the theme of voyeurism, both intentional and accidental. We are private bodies caught in the public gaze, we see things that we would rather not, we are simultaneously hungry for attention and yet crave privacy: we are always seen and yet never watched.
Public Bodies is a work in three movements. Sonically, the main musical discourse is between the following elements: a human voice (which represents the Self or Inner), the sounds of the city (which represents the Other or Outer) and harmonic and rhythmic material derived from the two.
Movement 1 is concerned with the Self. Its gestures are sudden and cumulative, it is interrupted by texture and rhythm, foreshadowing the rest of the piece.
Movement 2 is concerned with the journey from Self to Other, or more literally from One to Many. A single voice creates textures which dissolve into the sounds the city.
Movement 3 is chiefly concerned with rhythm, as the rhythm of the Self is disrupted and becomes technological, threatening yet monotonous.
Public Bodies forms part of the music I am composing for a contemporary dance piece with choreographer/performer Jane McLean that explores similar themes. The piece is ongoing.
Pond Life II is an ever-evolving environment which you are invited to experiment with. Adjust the light and nutrient levels to promote or destroy creatures. Watch the system grow and evolve, or stick your hand in to stir things up!
The work combines a wide range of technologies and aesthetics to create a unique and captivating environment. Fluid simulation, sound and motion sensing, genetic algorithms, a unique setup, and carefully crafted sounds and visual elements come together to create a piece which allows the audience to watch and intervene in the evolution of a small society of abstract microbes which grow, hunt, mutate, and crossbreed to generate subtle and surprising variations on the visual and aural scene.
Pond Life II is a long term collaboration between myself and Patrick Sanan. It was recently exhibited as part of the International Computer Music Conference 2009 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Pond Life II was entirely created using open source software.
Pond Life I was exhibited as part of the Sonic Arts Network Expo 2007 in Plymouth, UK.
Artist Biographies:
Sam Salem is a composer and audiovisual artist based in Manchester, England. His work has most recently been performed/exhibited in Montreal (Con Sordino 2), New York (NYCEMF), Berlin (SMC 08), Valencia (Digital Media 1.0) and around the UK and Europe (as part of the Wet Sounds 09 tour). He is studying for a PhD in Composition at the University of Manchester under the supervision of Ricardo Climent and David Berezan and is a member of the NOVARS Research Centre.
Patrick Sanan is currently working toward a PhD in Applied and Computational Mathematics at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California. He previously completed a Master’s Degree with Distinction in Electroacoustic Music Composition at the University of Manchester and previously studied Engineering, Mathematics, and Computer Music at the University of California, San Diego. His interests and experience include electroacoustic composition and performance, installation, and physical modeling, including that of sounds.
I’m a very lazy tourist. That much is to be expected. When I go somewhere new, I tend to just toddle about, sitting on benches, drinking tea and eating local cake. This piece is based on the field recordings I made while bench surfing my way around the city of Berlin last summer. As a tourist, even a very lazy one, the mundane becomes fascinating. I spent a great deal of time listening to pedestrian crossings, distant traffic and old men ringing bells. This piece traverses my source recordings, and by proxy my memories and experiences, via real abstracted sounds and their abstract dream-like counterparts.
This piece was premiered at the MANTIS Spring Festival, March 7th 2009.
i spy is an audiovisual work intended to be installed into a neutral social space.
i spy is a window onto an abstract digital landscape populated by autonomous audiovisual entities: birds flock and sing, stars twinkle, trees sway, cityscapes appear and disappear, planes fly overhead.
The work is generative and designed to run indefinitely, constantly shifting and changing.
They Sing for Themselves is an abstraction of our soundscapes, an imaginary landscape for the ear. It is an exploration of the sounds that surround us: how we choose to navigate them is up to us.
They are always there, singing and sputtering.
They Sing for Themselves was premiered at the LICA/MANTIS festival (March 08) and performed as part of Digital Media 1.0 (Valencia, April 08). In fact, here’s a picture of me diffusing:
The piece was also diffused as part of SMC08 in Berlin on the GRM Acousmonium.
