I am a composer focusing on creative works that interrogate their own situations: My technology-based performances wake a world mediated by ubiquitous technology, exposing its artifacts and impacts on the human experience. They respond to a culture built from co-opting prior forms of expression by short- circuiting that process to let the voice of the system itself emerge and be known. My broader intermedia works advance this same mindset more generally: to view the world like a creative “life hacker,” mindful to oft-overlooked connections and opportunities, the life blood of original creativity.
My work appears in a number of formats: 1. concert works, performed by me or by others, including traditional instruments, new instruments I created, or fixed media (i.e., audio or video created in advance to play during performance); 2. art installations, akin to sculptures in a gallery but with spontaneous or interactive elements, 3. software and hardware created to realize my performances and installations; 4. published recordings (for those works that translate well to sound-only, non-live media); 5. printable music scores (when relevant to the project); and 6. published writings and public presentations exploring the aesthetics of my creative works. The range of my scholarly activities demonstrate my strong foundation in my field and drive to explore its boundaries, especially embracing occasions when the boundaries blur with the endeavors of other disciplines. In my teaching, I lead students in doing the same, and in my service, I work to build events, structures, and communities that support these activities.
RESEARCH
The most exciting professional opportunities in this line of work come as public competitive calls for work with ever-changing themes, parameters, and challenges. So, instead of demonstrating a single artistic approach in a single format or venue, my work involves designing new artistic approaches for each opportunity, seeking to exploit the native and unique properties of each given situation. I consider it inter- media art, because it intertwines multiple modes of expression or experience into a unified whole artwork.
Having begun with live sampling improvisations that highlight the ephemera of live moments in performance, my body of work is expanding into more deeply inter-medial experiences. For example, Research Embodied is a site-specific performance and accompanying installation created for the Lyndon B. Johnson presidential library using amplified books, amplified typing keyboards, and live projected silhouettes filled with archive imagery and data to feature the sights and sounds of consuming/contemplating information in the archive to show how its use is part of its identity. Fast Standing Still was created for Chicago’s “Airstream Building” with the classic trailer on its roof, only visible from the elevated railways flanking it. It honors the audacious architect Edward Noonan who placed the trailer there, by reframing the recorded security message from the passing trains (“If you see something, say something. . . ”) as a call to mindfully explore one’s surroundings. The pitches of the message are transformed into a light jazzy melody played by heavy bass acoustic instruments to reflect the Airstream’s style, weight, and rooftop placement. The electronic accompaniment includes a “drum set” carved from a running recording of passing trains and a vibraphone-like line driven by video of the fluctuating skyline as the train passes the building. The style audible in the surface of my works may vary widely, as I include the audience as one of many factors as I design a unique approach for each work—this inter-media mindset in my creative process unifies my work.
Operating outside the commercial entertainment industry market, my premier destinations are performances and galleries built into scholarly conferences dedicated to the technology or topics involved in the artwork. They can be evaluated by their global visibility, selectivity, and the prestige and number of participants (individual exhibitions at these events seldom get widely published reviews). My activity and respect in global scholar-artist communities are most important, evinced primarily by exhibitions, conference pa- pers, and collaborative relationships. Otherwise, I seek opportunities for highly novel presentations that demonstrate innovation and creative skill, to open up future opportunities.
Peer-reviewed presentations of my work include innovative global events: the International Computer Music Conference and International Society for Improvised Music conference multiple times, as well as the International Symposium on Electronic Art and College Music Society global conference, in prominent venues including the Onassis Center, home of innovative arts in downtown Athens, Greece; the Triennale Museum in Milan, Italy (home of the Milano Triennale); and The Flea (Manhattan), a multiple Obie-winning theatre focused on high-quality, innovative, noncommercial interdisciplinary performance. I was commissioned by the private I-Park foundation for its biennale of ephemeral environmental art adjoining Devil’s Hopyard State Park (CT). I was selected as featured artist for full concerts or full sets in Malm ̈o, Sweden; NYC; and Austin. Others have performed my work in venues including D22, home of China’s underground music scene, the University of Chicago, and eight touring programs totaling 55 events in 12 countries.
My work has enjoyed performances by and attracted collaborations with highly notable contemporary artists. Phyllis Chen (co-founder of the Mellon-sponsored International Contemporary Ensemble) premiered two of my works, including one in her repertoire for the revered global Gaudeamus performer competition. More prestigious, Eric km Clark (of The California EAR Unit) joined me at three international and two na- tional performances without any compensation after meeting me in a residency at the Atlantic Center for the Arts. Six-time Downbeat critics poll winner Karl Berger played on my Weblogmusic project uncompensated. A consortium of improvisers in Helsinki led by Sergio Castrill ́on, a leading force for new music increasingly embraced by Finnish universities, set up four recording sessions with me during my trip to perform at Sibelius Academy. These are innovative professional artists—not university professors—who are normally paid for their work and depend on it for their living; my work excites them to join me without needing payment. Upon seeing my work in progress at I-Park, fellow artists-in-residence Hester Pilz and Jeff Zischke invited me to contribute sound for their exhibits, and Zischke (who created the half-million dollar animated lighting sculpture for the WestWorld events complex) later invited me to create a continuously-generated sound- scape for his sculpture outside the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (the only museum in Arizona dedicated to contemporary art). It was launched in an arts fundraising gala headlined by celebrated comic improviser Martin Short and enjoyed 37,000 visitors during three-month day run.
I have won awards in juried competitions that emphasize aesthetic innovations and present challenging parameters for entries. These events include winning the “Radio Killed the Video Star” competition for radio performance art (NYC) judged by Guggenheim and MoMA curator Pablo Helguera with a 2.5% acceptance rate, the “Music in Architecture” International Symposium—third prize in the juried competition, one of five finalists from 74 submissions (6.8% acceptance) including global and Ivy League competitors, and the UnCaged Toy Piano Competition (NYC)—6.7% acceptance rate for third prize.
My critical writings explore aesthetic and technical issues raised in my creative work and are published in interdisciplinary venues including an article in Leonardo Music Journal, leading journal for contemporary music and the sonic arts, published by MIT Press, the only university press in the country primarily commit- ted to frontiers in science and technology. Based on my presentation at the global Computer Art Congress, I was invited to publish a book chapter in Metaplasticity in Virtual Worlds: Aesthetics and Semantic Concepts through IGI Global, a leading international academic publisher in technology.
I continue to pursue innovative projects and prestigious outlets, awards, and collaborations. While a single culminating monograph book or CD does not suit many programs of creative work, I do have an upcoming CD release under contract with PARMA Recordings, with the highest-praised quality, marketing, and visibility for mid-career contemporary artists, distributed globally by Naxos (one of the largest distributors of independent classical record labels in the world). In it, Karl Berger, the most mature, experienced, and honored of my collaborators, will perform with me in my structured performance environments. I have a second CD accepted by PARMA to include recordings made with artists I met during my travels.
TEACHING
I immerse my students in research and practice, interdisciplinary inquiry, and class projects targeted as public performances. They develop theoretical background and practical tools to produce challenging performances that integrate aesthetic, theoretical, and technical inquiry. My syllabus statement “Faculty Research and Your Education” on the relationships among my research, my courses, and students’ responsibilities at a research university was adopted by TAMU’s Center for Teaching Excellence as a model.
In my courses, 22 students have had work selected for presentation in global venues under my direction (16 refereed, 6 invited, among professional submissions) including the Guthman Musical Instrument Competition and International Conference on Auditory Display as well as events in Germany, Italy, and Spain. Three of these students had work selected for a concert in Italy—an 8.5% acceptance rate with professional submissions from 34 countries—that was published on DVD (Taukay Edizioni Musicali) with professional choreography. Twelve of these students had works included in refereed touring concert programs presented in 73 events including 16 countries. Sixty-five students have represented TAMU in the Electric LaTex regional student music festival (including 4 R-1, 3 AAU institutions and hosting them at TAMU in 2009), and over 250 students performed technology-based roles in 30 events produced on campus. Sonic Glimpses, an installation built with my class to inaugurate our new building, was recognized in World Architecture magazine. The majority of these successes are by undergraduates (proportional to the makeup of my classes), but they are competitive in venues primarily occupied by graduate students and professional artists.
I have served as a member on 11 graduate thesis committees (in Computer Science, Digital Humanities, and Visualization) and taught 5 graduate individual study courses. I chaired 9 undergraduate Music capstone committees, served as member on 9 more, and supervised 9 undergraduate individual studies and internships. I created 9 courses including a laptop ensemble that has had 6 performance encounters with internationally prominent guest artists and external events. I perhaps sacrifice scores somewhat by regularly experimenting with models to increase effectiveness, embrace emergent opportunities, and take students out of their comfort zones to ensure impactful growth and to equip lifelong inquiry. My students’ external accomplishments have dipped during the move to a new building (2012), a significant budget reduction and loss of funding sources (2013), and closing out all current majors (since 2014) to launch a new Performance Studies BA (fall 2016).
SERVICE
My service activity in many areas of policy, administration, and curriculum design demonstrate my integrated expertise in technology and the arts. The PerfTech program I built as Studio Director was featured and highly praised in recent academic program review reports by my department and its external reviewers. My 29 internal grants for program development total almost $650,000 attributable to me, in large part to develop excellent facilities with an uncommon level of access by undergraduate students. I was extensively involved in the design of the new Liberal Arts: Arts and Humanities building over six years, including a 26.4’ screen and Ultra High Definition standard 22.2 channel surround sound system (augmentable by many more specialized speakers) that surpasses many peers in number and ease of expression via a multi- touch live spatialization interface. Resulting from my involvement, I co-authored a presentation for the Texas College & University Facilities conference with the principal architect from BRW who designed our building. On campus, I have done sound design for 7 plays, given 10 performances of my own, and produced 23 guest encounters including composers, improvisers, curators, and prog-rockers; MacArthur, Guggenheim, and NEA fellows, central figures in European sound art, and observations and interviews with Grammy winner Lyle Lovett as his tour came to town. As Director of Undergraduate Studies, I guided my department through a statewide core curriculum overhaul and
My service activity in many areas of policy, administration, and curriculum design demonstrate my integrated expertise in technology and the arts. The PerfTech program I built as Studio Director was featured and highly praised in recent academic program review reports by my department and its external reviewers. My 29 internal grants for program development total almost $650,000 attributable to me, in large part to develop excellent facilities with an uncommon level of access by undergraduate students. I was extensively involved in the design of the new Liberal Arts: Arts and Humanities building over six years, including a 26.4’ screen and Ultra High Definition standard 22.2 channel surround sound system (augmentable by many more specialized speakers) that surpasses many peers in number and ease of expression via a multi- touch live spatialization interface. Resulting from my involvement, I co-authored a presentation for the Texas College & University Facilities conference with the principal architect from BRW who designed our building. On campus, I have done sound design for 7 plays, given 10 performances of my own, and produced 23 guest encounters including composers, improvisers, curators, and prog-rockers; MacArthur, Guggenheim, and NEA fellows, central figures in European sound art, and observations and interviews with Grammy winner Lyle Lovett as his tour came to town. As Director of Undergraduate Studies, I guided my department through a statewide core curriculum overhaul and creation of a new major while navigating the closure of two existing majors. I launched a Minor in Performance Technology; a companion graduate certificate is in development. I have also chaired committees on recruitment, student success/program assessment, and website redesign.
My college- and university-level service appointments, including an elected seat in the faculty senate, reflect confidence in my integrity and ability to represent constituencies. I secured an art-friendly policy on the Audiovisual Surveillance Technology committee; I championed upper-division courses on the Core Curriculum Council, crucial for my department. I helped to secure a role for arts practitioners in the new Initiative for Digital Humanities, Media, and Culture and to establish it as a TAMU “landmark research area,” and I served on the search committee for its first director. I built the original website, managed the public call for works, submission, and evaluation process, and wrote an original string quartet for TAMU’s first composition symposium and competition, a college Strategic Development Fund project to elevate TAMU’s public reputation in composition as a college area of excellence.
I built and have coordinated the intercollegiate Fresh Minds Festival of audiovisual art (now in season four), with each season mass-curated by up to 1,000 TAMU students learning basic principles of art and music, evaluating up to 200 submissions from professional artists from over 30 countries, identifying work that best engages informed newcomers to new media art, with a 3–6% acceptance rate for finalists. This unique and praised model, now included in literature on the subject, was funded by TAMU’s Tier One grant program to strengthen its reputation for involving students in advanced inquiries in the arts. A highlight reel selected for the 2016 NYC Electroacoustic Music Festival will invite other universities to join in.
My service to the discipline demonstrates that I am respected as a scholar at the global level and across disciplines: editorial board member for the International Journal of Art, Culture, and Design Technologies since 2010; reviewer for Cyberworlds global conferences since 2012; and this year, NICOGRAPH International (Society for Art and Science) and The Visual Computer: International Journal of Computer Graphics (Springer). I also consulted for New College, The Honors College of Florida, to design its next stage of facility and curriculum development.
CONCLUSION
I have established TAMU’s presence in leading venues for the creation and analysis of cutting-edge performances, and I have built thought-provoking artistic encounters for TAMU students and the community, including current performance trends and innovations by performers of national and global stature. Their range speaks to my ability to bring diverse facets of performance into a unified program of research and teaching.