Arcana 33

"A frontier mentality rules the drive into cyberspace." Kroker & Weinstein - Data Trash

Late 19th century... fueled by the growth of heavy industry in the Northeastern United States, the drive from Europe to the Pacific continues across the plains through Injun country... thousands of miles of rail are put down (the first "information superhighway"?)... lots of torn flesh and restless spirits are left in the wake. Miles behind the expanding frontier a group of clairvoyants and mediums start the "Spiritualist" movement... creating illusory escape routes from the body-crushing gravity of steel, steam, and big wheels.

Aided by the high-tech special effects of the day (voice trumpets, pneumatically controlled hands, specially constructed furniture) and a little legerdemain the "Spiritualists" could conjure apparitions and talk to the dead, or at least create that illusion. At the end of the 20th century we use video monitors, datagloves, force feedback sensors to divine other realities and manifest telenomadic spirits. Hyperextended vision, hearing, touch, form the new escape routes from the virtualization of the body and the soul-crushing gravity of big media.

Automatic Descriptions is inspired and influenced by the arcane technology of the Spiritualists and the illusory magic of virtual reality. Using a phonograph and a "seance table" (a small wooden table with embedded ultrasound and Hall-effect sensors) I perform a bit of electroacoustic necromancy..

Primitive Still Life with Pairs is a sonic canvas of very large and very small noises (samples) from the animal, mineral and vegetable kingdoms. These sounds are alchemically blended in real-time using the seance table.

Other pieces on this 50 minute program include Lullaby, an industrial strength cradlesong, and Traffic & Weather, a piece about virtual communities formed from low technology (AM radio).

Technical Requirements:

High fidelity stereo sound system, mixer optional (I provide two line-level inputs to your sound system)

220v/50hz -> 110v/60hz power converter(s), minimum 100 watts.

microphone with boom stand

lighting requirements are minimal... one spot with gels.

Fee:

$750 plus lodging and transportation