November 19 - December 17
 
   
    SUPERSONIC
new directions in sound and form

On view through Nov 19-Dec 17

Exhibition opening
WEDNESDAY, Nov 19 2003
6-10pm FREE!

 

Rx is very pleased to present its next exhibition "Supersonic: New Directions in Sound and Form" featuring recent sculptural and inspired sound works by several Bay Area luminaries including Matt Heckert, Larnie Fox, Aaron Ximm, Joe Colley, Kurt Bigenho and others. Most of this work has never been shown before, so don't miss it.


   

 


Exhibiting Artists:

   

Matt Heckert

 --
 
"Rotifiers" and "Grind"

 

 

Heckert's work involves machines, robotics and sound. Machines that grind, roll, grunt, resonate and thrash about. Sound which is physically produced live- mechanical sounds- are the key component in his sound installations and performances.

At the RX Gallery he will be showing some new rotational sound grinders: "Rotifiers" and "Rhumba"

www.mattheckert.com

 


Larnie Fox

 --
 
"Engines" and "Springboard"
 

  "Engines" are part of a larger project ~ a 30 ft. Bamboo "Airliner" that was installed in the Lab Gallery in May 2003. They are the engines and munitions of the Airliner. Motion sensors activate the piece, so it hangs silent until people approach. As viewers/listeners move around the piece, they trip the motion sensors and trigger lights and sound elements. The sounds are mechanically produced, then picked up by contact microphones (piezos), modulated by a mixing board, then amplified, and broadcast from speakers. The "Engines" made from bamboo, found objects and motors, light bulbs, and wiring.

"Springboard" is a newer piece, made from found materials, also controlled by motion sensors and incorporating contact microphones.

Bio:Larnie Fox is known for painting, large-scale kinetic bamboo sculpture, sound sculpture and performance. He is a founding member of 23five Incorporated, a non-profit to promote sound art. He is also a founding member of Art Bias and Art Club, two Utah Fluxus-influenced groups, and has performed and shown at numerous venues in Utah. He was commissioned to create and burn a 20-ft. bamboo and muslin windmill at Burning Man 1997, and there he made and flew a 23-ft. bamboo and muslin kite in 1996, and a bamboo and muslin airplane in 1998. His work has been shown in the Bay area at The San Francisco Art Institute, SOMAR, Pond, Second Space Gallery, and at a one-person shows at The LAB, the Richmond Art Center and the Randall Museum in San Francisco. He has performed at CELL, Komotion, Noisegate, Splung, The Werepad, The LAB and Anti-Matter Gallery, and has also shown and performed on a guerrilla basis regularly.

Larnie Fox is the Director of the Children's Art Program for the City of Palo Alto at the Palo Alto Art Center. He has directed the ArtKids Children's Art Program at the Community School of Music and Art in Mountain View, where he also taught. A co-founder and past instructor for Utah's Youth Arts Academy, and Project Coordinator for the Utah Arts Festival Children's Art Yard, he also taught at Weber State University, Ogden Utah, the University of Utah, and the Community University in Bozeman, Montana. He holds an M.F.A. in Painting and Drawing from the University of Utah, and a BA in Painting and Drawing from Slippery Rock University, Pennsylvania.

www.infoflow.com/larnie

 


Joe Colley

 --
 
Apology
 

The installation "Apology" is simply a space designated to deliver a recording of my heartfelt apology to anyone who comes to listen. This recording repeats as a loop allowing a listener to absorb as many apologies as they wish. As prayer wheels are used in Tibet to increase the efficiency of prayer delivery, I likewise hope to use available technology to deliver a continous stream of apologies to all who deserve them, and in the end hopefully gain forgiveness.

Joe Colley is a self taught artist investigating the conceptual possibilities of sound through recording and installation. For over ten years his work­­ has been released internationally on various underground record labels. His recent installations have focused on creating unstable situations to compose sound by chance and remove the artist as much as possible from this process. The value of these experiments is still to be determined.

 


Kurt Bigenho

 --
 
Recent Discoveries by The Dept. of Shape Research
 

"The Dept. of Shape Research proudly presents representive instances of three new shape types (031, 032, and 034) as well as an explanatory document regarding the proprietory classification system employed by the institution.

The Dept. of Shape Research, founded in 1995 in Oakland, CA, has been chartered with the research, development, synthesis, and categorization of unique, original and, in most cases, entirely useless shapes. Occasionally, through its outreach program, the Dept. makes limited numbers of its shapes available to the public-at-large. Its engineers are currently developing a state-of-the-art digital repository to house the many hundreds of embryonic shapes discovered and/or developed yearly. Privately owned and funded, but with a determined, philanthropic mission, the Dept. of Shape Research holds itself, whenever possible, to the highest professional, ethical and scientific standards, during the course of its manifold activities. For more information on the Dept., please visit www.dsr.org."

The Dept. of Shape Research is an ongoing project of Kurt Bigenho, who is based in the SF Bay Area. Recently, at New Langton Arts, he debuted "Experience Modifiers" - a service-oriented piece which presented a warehouse of objects (all covered in plush pink terrycloth) available for checkout (by simply leaving a valid ID with his friendly staff).  Objects included:  an inflatable dolphin, headphones with audio tape, a hula hoop, a neckbrace, ankle weights, a potted plant, a toy wagon and a remote controlled car.   

With much of his work, the primary medium, rather than photography, video or sculpture (which are often byproducts of the process) is "experience" itself.  He crafts serious/silly, logical/illogical situations, often with a crew of (dedicated) workers.  The aim is to encourage viewers to become "actors", and to participate. Often he gives his work away during the show - small photographs, documents, stamped receipts - evidence of each person's participation.  He works under a number of aliases, including The Dept. of Shape Research, Made by Kurt, K., The Generalist, and A.S.S.  He co-founded VAINGLORIOUS in 1998, where he first began developing his brand of participatory site-specific pieces.  He is currently developing unfinished.com, which could be thought of as a personal database (or wunderkammer).  He has shown work at New Langton, Southern Exposure, four walls, Somarts, the Webbys, the Oakland Museum.  He has a degree in architecture from UC Berkeley and consults as a brand, information and experience designer.   

www.unfinished.com

 


Aaron Ximm

 --
 
Serendipity Machine 11.19.03 (haunted) (2003)

 

Serendipity machine 11.19.03 (haunted) (2003) is one of a series of
installation sculpture that generate ever-changing, never-repeating
soundscapes. Each machine perpetually shuffles a unique set of hundreds of
prepared recordings, juxtaposing them by chance in new configurations.

Machine 11.19.03 (haunted) debuts on on Ximm's thirty-third birthday.

Sound artist Aaron Ximm works with field recordings. Since 1998, his Quiet
American project has focused on constructing new soundscapes from the
intimate recordings he collects during travel. His work emphasizes the
fragile, the subtle, and the lovely.

Ximm's recordings and compositions are available via his website
quietamerican.org, which also offers DIY advice for recordists, and the
popular 'one-minute vacations,' a submission-driven feature which is
updated weekly. Ximm also curates and hosts the award-winning 'Field
Effects' concert series, now finishing its second year.

www.quietamerican.org

 

 

 

 
©2003 Rx Gallery | Site designed and maintained by Gregory Cowley