Circumpliance
2014
∞ minutes
(no set duration)
Instrumentation
Fixed Media / Installation
(three, 2-Channel digital audio playback devices playing through six, well-spaced speakers.)
Also available on Spotify and Apple Music.
Notes
In collaboration with students and faculty at Wofford College, Circumpliance was designed as a part of a mixed media art installation that was first open from May to October of 2014. The music is made-up of 88 unique stereo tracks that comprise over 4 hours of unrepeated audio. Using the random playback feature on three separate 2-channel digital audio devices, the music plays continuously for the duration of the installation. Because of the exceedingly high number of permutations possible, the resulting music will almost assuredly be unique with each visit to the installation site.
The sculptural and acoustic elements of this piece were inspired by the “miraculous cocoon” of pianos that saved the life of piano store employee Colin Patterson during the 2014 East Harlem gas explosion.
WOFFORD COLLEGE (2014):
During the 2013-2014 academic year, Dr. Peter B. Kay served as an Artist-In-Residence at Wofford College. In collaboration with Kris Neely, Assistant Professor and Coordinator for Studio Art, Dr. Kay was asked to develop an installation that would alter the experience of a specific space using sound.
After exploring several sites and many concepts, Dr. Kay has created an original music composition entitled "Circumpliance." Together with Wofford students and members of the community, Kay, Neely, and Lynn Rhodes created sculptural elements using pieces of three decommissioned pianos. The pianos had been previously destined for a local landfill as they could no longer be tuned properly.
The sculpted piano parts and the 88 electronic music tracks of "Circumpliance" will shape the experience of the Montgomery Music Building Courtyard until September of 2014. Visiting the installation is free and open to the public.
The installation is designed to be different each time a person visits. The music is engineered to evolve as the tracks are played in an interlaced randomized sequence over 6 months. Sometimes the listener may experience harmonies, at other times dissonance. The unprotected sculptural elements will be left exposed to the natural elements, weathering and decomposing as the installation progresses.
Installations & Exhibits
Wofford College: May-Oct, 2014
Hub-Bub Showroom: Nov 2014
Austin Peay State University: Jan-Apr, 2015
WKMS coverage: http://bit.ly/wkms-circumpliance
Bubbli (3D image & audio): http://bit.ly/APU-circumpliance-bubbli
Converse College: Feb, 2016
Flagler College: Sept-Nov, 2016
Seeing Spartanburg in a New Light: opening ceremony on Oct 4, 2016 (music only)
