the eye (unblinking) (2007)
for six performers and computer controlled lighting. Composed in the Spring of 2007, the eye (unblinking) explores my ongoing fascination with the possible connections between the visual and the audible. Each performer is individually lit by a single spotlight that is able to be dimmed in precise synchronization with the music. Musical and theatrical gestures are linked, highlighted, and suppressed by the presence or absence of light.
the eye (unblinking) was premiered by the sfSoundGroup on June 24th, 2007 at the ODC Theater in San Francisco.
The creation of this work was supported, in part, by a Faculty Research Grant from the University of North Texas. Important aspects of the technological realization of this work rely on the "tempocurver" tools developed at UC Berkeley's Center for New Music and Audio Technologies (CNMAT).
program note: Imagine the sense of excitement that the first film-makers had - the exhilaration of being able to capture and relive visual moments over and over. You can see this in hundreds of short film clips that investigate the minutiae of daily life - views of cars, people walking, bicycles, buildings, flickering candles - all with the unblinking eye of the camera.
In my music, composing the connections between different media provides me with what I imagine is a similar sense of excitement and discovery. I feel that I am on the edge of being able to capture and recreate the everyday fact that we build our reality through the combination of sensory perception.
"the eye (unblinking)" aims to make this connection by creating intermodal gestures - phrases that arise from the interaction between light and sound. These two media are not thought of as separate entities layered on top of each other but, rather, two processes that interact to reveal a singular meaning.
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