responsive performance system design iteration 

5 concrete discs w/ live moss

1 concrete seat, hand bent and welded steel legs w/ live moss

violinist: Tristan Wright

equipment: pure data, arudino software, teensy, speakers w/ subwoofer, behringer U-Phoria UM2, DIY contact mic

Interactive Sound Installation 

Woods Gerry House, Providence RI 

Materials: greenhouse, found styrofoam, drain plug, fish tank, live grass, pvc piping, ventilation tubing, wood, tarp, rock hammer, copper wire, nails, gloves, dry ice, teensy microcontroller, driftwood, mac laptop, speaker system

digital photography series at Beavertail state park, ri

materials/tools: 56 houseplants, copperwire, gridwall, teensy (microcontroller), 2 speakers, puredata, arduino coding platform 2 15ft stereo male to male cable

wearable backpack structure designed to hold a neptune ball found on a backpacking trip. these balls of fiber are produced from neptune grass which grows just off the coast in the mediterranean. when the grass dies the fiber is released into the tides, rolling the fiber into balls until they are deposited on the shore. 

this material has been found to be flame resistant, mold resistant, and a perfect candidate to sustainably insulate homes. 

materials: oxygen acetylene welded steel & bronze, screws, acrylic, neptune ball (from alghero, sardinia italy )

Materials/tools: collected rock specimens,copper wire, teensy(midi microcontroller), puredata, arduino coding platform, 4 speakers, 4 15ft stereo to stereo male cable

An interactive sculptural field.

Beneath our Feet; Imagining an Illuminated Geologic Soundscape took the form of a multi-channel audio installation in which an interactive sculptural cymatics piece was employed to illustrate the composition. The piece had a length of 12 minutes and explored the temporality and vibrational qualities of a geologic world unheard. The selections of sounds used in this piece were contact microphone recordings, pure frequency generations and recordings of pure crystal singing bowls. The only manipulations done to the samples were the process of stretching them in time. During the performance, participants were encouraged to touch the cymatic discs to experience the vibrations first hand in order to make the connection between the vibrations felt through the floor, the sight of the discs and the feeling of the liquid in the discs. When speaking about the piece as a group, participants mentioned the communal experience the interaction of touch gave them with each other and the piece. Murray Schafer, mentioned in his writings about the soundscape, “touch is the most personal of the senses. Hearing and touch meet where the lower frequencies of audible sound pass over to tactile vibrations (at about 20 hertz). Hearing is a way of touching at a distance and the intimacy of the first sense is fused with sociability when ever people gather together to hear something special.” (Murray Schafer, The Soundscape: the tuning of the world) With this piece, I was interested in the idea of a collective space that envelops the participants. Pulling them closer to the world we all very presently exist within by creating a device for expression, for speaking, for the ground beneath all of us. 

full essay

The final format of this piece was in the form of a performance/installation driven by MaxMSP using MIAP (Manifold Interface Amplitude Panning) developed by Zachary Seldess. The piece was designed for the space it was shown in and consisted of a 8 speaker multi-channel setup plus 4 speakers w/ amplifiers in the constructed element. I designed the 'map' for the space which controlled the locale of the sound throughout the project with the consideration of the physical location of the speakers.

Site-Specific Multimedia Installation
Site: Edna Lawrence Nature Lab at RISD
Materials: mono ammonium phosphate grown crystals, found moss specimens, wood, acrylic, projector, transducer, speaker

Installation of durational hour long drawing performance in video. This piece is comprised of the documentation of the performance, an object product of the performance and in situ sound.

A Site-specific performative installation 

Site: Fort Adams, Newport RI

The following piece is a part of a group show of site responsive installations at historic Fort Adams located in Newport, RI. The show titled Fort Adams:Drawing Parallels, Listening for Echoes was a culmination of work completed during a semester long course at the Rhode Island School of Design.

Entering Fort Adams I sought a space that spoke to me, and more so a space that felt like it had not yet spoken to itself. Structure that does not understand nature and nature that does not care for structure. After visiting the site I began to draw, thinking about this connection and sorting out modes of understanding. Systematically planning, but at all moments considering a responsive approach to the environment. Searching for a connection to the fort and its location on the Narraganset Bay I watched the tops of sails pass by the towering walls blocking the horizon.

During this project I came into connection with many sail makers in Rhode Island who were gracious enough to donate out of commission sails to the project. Locally sourced materials, and particularly reuse of material was very important to this piece. I was interested in the history of it all and understanding material for just that, material.  

Over the course of this projects installation the piece was twice "destroyed" by the harsh costal winter weather and wind. I did not go back to be beginning and attempt to fix or perfect the form but instead began to consider my want to be sensitive to nature. In many ways I wanted to retain control, but realized that in order for the piece to become what it needed to be I had to work intuitively and practice letting go.

A poem constructed through process, derived from notes on drawings below. 

Crossbedding, a layer between

Referencing the undulation of the landscape

A steel structure to respond to

A wavelength turned into an environmental score

Layers fluttering together 

Like something washed up from the sea

Rule is: needs to be connected at 3 points, water, wind, earth

To create volume

Drawing lines through space, for form to follow

Histories converging into a point

Wind driven waves on the sea 

Billowing

Layers in time and space, capturing, holding 

A transition zone

 Mediating conversation and exchange

Creating an experience for the environment

To be present in the space and open to its sensibilities 

Bring energy into the space, life, flow, materiality of the earth 

Illustrate forces of weathering and erosion

You can see the ocean 

A quiet place where the fort can meet the sea

 And speak about their histories and futures

Erode histories, deposit truths, a layering of strata 

Bursting outward, plunging into the ground 

Exposing and exploring materiality

Sails from various times but one place

Bursts of energy, absorbed by the fort 

Finding the space between 

To the wall, to the sea 

Nets to capture wind and time

 A moment for the earth 

A fabric folding and unfolding

A mesh of sensibilities

Remnants of sail language

Coexisting, crossing and connecting points

A woven structure system

Organic attachment, decided by a skeleton

A water informed landscape

To make the fort permeable to the ocean

To reveal the preservation of time and the inability to hold

Stretching through time and space 

Sound and water 

A non place 

Wrapping and unravelling 

An Undulation of waves 

Passing of time

Material becomes more material

an investigation into place and a relationship to material mass

materials: welded steel, projector, osb board, blue gloss spray paint

Wall Hanging, a journey through place  

Tools: embroidery machine, UV printer 

Materials: dotted swiss fabric, thread, found object (driftwood)

This project was created for a Handbuilt and Alternative Cameras class at RISD.

I chose to create a line or wearable cameras using mirrored acrylic as the primary material.

This concept of reflective fashion objects is my way of investigating our societies obsession with image, particularly self-image. The image-based nature of the camera itself combined with a mirrored exterior makes it an ideal combination when discussing the action of gazing at ones own image. If an individual were to take a photograph with one of these cameras the mirrored material would force them to be aware of their self-image within the space they inhabit. Beside from the crafting of these high-fashion camera objects I also intend for the images that they capture to be focused on the concept of self-identity and one’s position with their environment and culture. In regards to all of these cameras I am particularly interested in the reaction or perception of individuals who pass by on the street to witness someone using one of these devices. They, like the user of the camera will gaze upon this object while the object gazes back at them.

- Credits -

Model: Sage Dumont

Photographer: Lucas Vasilko

http://www.lucasvasilko.com/

Styling: Savannah Barkley

Design & Concept: Savannah Barkley

A sound driven animation piece done for my Intro to Animation course at RISD.

The following text is extracted from the original book, to craft an abstract poetic narrative. I have no rights or ownership to this novel. This was created for a class project in which the students were asked to repurpose a book through mixed media explorations. 

The following lines of text have been pulled from 34 pages, all are not pictured below.

Sea

Opened to the furthest limits of the earth

We are afraid because we live, 

Life is a long dream

What.

Actually. 

Happened. 

Transported by our love

Face was lost

Follow the path

Theory of temporariness

Isn’t a good enough reason to forget, but you did

Things we knew by heart

The links between

He told the story

I didn’t believe the story

Examples, not as lived reality

Everything had become absurd

There was the dark

How can I describe it?

Back to the story

If i’d understood

Have you accepted?

Correct the details because she’d forget

Everyone believed me

Obliterated landscape

Prisoners of a past

Entered a labyrinth

It was as though time had stopped  

United by one thing : waiting

From one prison to another

To places I’d forgotten

See fear, then you’ll understand

Discovers her all over again

Start the journey once again

Seemed so logical

I swear

These images act as documentation of the installation 'Objective Specimens'. The installation investigates the relationship between tangible objects and their projected points of origin. By taking them out of their environmental context and reinstalling them 'out-of-context' the meaning and standing of these objects is altered and opened up for re-interpretation, despite their placement being quite literal.

Tiled collection of drawings created through the use of netting and spray paint.

A video summary of the partnership with Brown/RISD STEAM clubs and The Jewish Community Day School of Rhode Island. The project was intended to highlight how Design Thinking can be incorporated into meaningful student projects in an elementary school.

Producer -

The Jewish Community Day School of Rhode Island

Director - Savannah Barkley

Assitant Director - Allison Chen

Editing - Savannah Barkley

Camera - Savannah Barkley & Allison Chen

Sound Recording - Savannah Barkley & Allison Chen

Graphics - Allison Chen

Music: 

Smile and Wave written by: Adam Drake & Tom Jenkins

Courtesy of Audio Network US Inc.

A big thanks to Adam Tilove, staff and teachers of JCDSRI, Brown & RISD workshop leaders and participants

&

 all the brilliant students at JCDSRI!

This is a video based project created for a course at RISD. The device is a reflection on a personal experience of having my childhood room (unknowingly) altered after leaving for college. By viewing the contents of the room though this device it alludes to the way I felt about and perceived the space after its alteration. 

Materials used: foam core, mirrored acrylic, iphone (for video content)

A collection of film stills from Lighting for the Moving Image course at RISD - final works coming soon.

Materials: String, found rock specimens (from RI), soil
 
The follow text was performed with the presentation of the work

Packages from the Extended Present
within a moment
of pause
undecided
trapped until further notice
unable to return
nor push along
extended
in the constant
a past to consider
and a future
so hazey
that it barely exists
separation from
the process
of transformation
captured
and held to an extent
that time
becomes suspended
in the present
 

Documentation of a viewing device created for a course at RISD. The device consists of two lenses in which the viewer looks through and a set of headphones. When worn the device is held up to one's face in order to see the content inside.

The notion of the binocular and the act of birdwatching was present when coming up with the concept for this project.

This project investigates the relationship between invasive species and mankind. This wearable is crafted out of Porcelin Berry vines and Barberry Berries (used for dying), which are both invasives well known in New England. By adorning a human form with these materials, one which has the ability of motion, I aimed to make the connection of the origin of their spreading. 

Site-Specific Multimedia Installation Project 
Site: College Buiding @ RISD in Providence, RI
Materials: mylar, glow sticks, 3 projectors, bluetooth speakers 
The following images are documentation and are not the way in which the piece is intended to be viewed.

-Experiential Account-

You are handed a glowing stick at the door, a light to guide you, to make you part of it's world. You enter the space by acending a tight black metal spiral staircase. From above, you can see a faint glow of blue light flickering and changing shades. You can hear the patter of rain and the occasional boom of thunder, it becomes meditative. You arrive at the base of another set of stairs and all around you amorphus shapes cover the walls. Cast in brilliant shades of blue and white they dance before your eyes. Dangling from the very top of the staircase are glowing sticks which appear like rain drops frozen in time. You begin to acend the next flight of stairs, taking notice to your own reflection on the wall. It becomes warped and distorted as you pass the panes of material, you stop and stare for a moment entranced by your own image. You continue, watching the walls reflect your image while the colors of your surroundings dance on your skin. You reach the top of the stairs and gaze down upon your journey, watching, listening. The space becomes yours as you sit atop it, your own place to be, a place of wonder, a place of reflection, a place of sky an rain.
 

void loop()                    
{   

long start = millis();    //get time since Arduino began running current program
 

//read sensors and switches
    readSensors();
    readUpButtonAndDebounce();
    readDownButtonAndDebounce();
       

 //setup for the switches
    int sw1 = digitalRead(5);       //label which pin the switches are connected to
    int sw2 = digitalRead(7);
   
    Serial.println(pointofbeing);
    

 //Set the next state to Touch if a touch is sensed

 //200 is an arbitrary number, will depend on the CapSense sensor
    if(cs_4_2.capacitiveSensor(30) > 200)    
    state = TOUCH;
  

Collage investigation formulated through usage of source material. All images and text were taken from another book and were recontextualized. This zine type book explores the phrase "If your beautiful, you can't also be smart.".

This project titled 'cultures' discusses the process of human scrutinization of structures, which are representative of those of which are manmade. In this process the cultures were grown, and through that an understanding of how they came to be is concluded. Without seeing this process or understanding their context it is impossible to see them for anything else then what they are at the time of viewing. Similar to social and cultural structures, we are often presented with new ways of presentation of self and life style which is unlike our own. From this standpoint our observations are void of contextual depth without further investigation. Such as the crystal 'cultures' their individuality is apparent but unable to be understood at first glance, leaving the viewer in awe.

Materials: wood, paint, salt crystals, petri dishes

Sculpture project which discusses perspectives in urban environments. This project was created for a course at RISD and completed within 5 days. All photographs were taken in Providence, RI.

This project addresses the battle between natural and synthetic processes. The interaction between these processes is one of attempted physical control and manipulation of form. The balloon itself acts as an impressionable container in which an act of systematic control can be imposed upon. Without this intervention of the human hand the objects would remain neutrally shaped and as they were 'intended'. The objects are arranged in a grid to evoke another layer of control upon these objects. Although, since their forms are irregular a true grid cannot be formed and therefore shows a lack of control over the manmade objects themselves. The grid also serves as an attempt at taxonomy of these balloon objects - subjecting these synthetic objects to a scheme of classification which is known to the natural world. 

Materials: 60 Balloons filled with Plaster 

Project for Interacting With Nature course @ RISD

16mm film project on the topic of Graphic Match Cutting created for Intro to Film course at RISD