{"id":32,"date":"2019-01-30T04:35:20","date_gmt":"2019-01-30T09:35:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tempsite.ostrowski.info\/?page_id=32"},"modified":"2019-02-22T23:40:25","modified_gmt":"2019-02-23T04:40:25","slug":"western-electric-2012-2015","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/ostrowski.info\/?page_id=32","title":{"rendered":"Western Electric (2012 &#8211; 2015)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-vimeo wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-vimeo wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Western Electric N\u00ba 1\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/51484548?dnt=1&amp;app_id=122963\" width=\"660\" height=\"371\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture; clipboard-write; encrypted-media\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><figcaption>Western Electric at the Clocktower Gallery, New York, 2012<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Western Electric<\/em> is a generative composition of indeterminate duration for an array of fifteen computer-controlled rotary telephones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The telephones are linked to a computer controlling the sonic output of the bells. Old telephones sound via mechanical rather than electronic means: their bells are struck by clappers. In this work, the speed and position of the clappers are voltage-controlled, making possible a wide range of rhythms, sounds and tones &#8211; from single peals to muted taps to familiar rings.  Timing, density and timbre are determined by a  generative score based on swarm intelligence, small-world networks, and Markov chains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Western Electric posits an alternative reality in which obsolete instruments present an atavistic sentience &#8211; not the product of an advanced consciousness of communication, as we might wish or fantasize them to be, but instead, allude to a primitive will with not quite transparent intentions, a hive mind of the obsolete.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While maintaining Aristotelian unity &#8211; The work\u2019s sonic content is a result of the telephone\u2019s mechanical form &#8211;  I aim to unfold this formal object by reshaping its familiar sonic and social relations, reconsidering it as orchestra, bedlam, site of exchange. The combination of the  estranging strategies of multiplication and re-purposing with the iconic visual and auditory qualities of the telephone presents a fresh interrogation of fundamental precepts, both artistic and social: musical composition, robotics, and  the nature of our interaction with technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-32 gallery-columns-3 gallery-size-thumbnail'><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/ostrowski.info\/?attachment_id=222'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/ostrowski.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/WE_still_03-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-222\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-222'>\n\t\t\t\tN\u00ba 1, Clocktower, 2012\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/ostrowski.info\/?attachment_id=214'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/ostrowski.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/image4-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-214\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-214'>\n\t\t\t\tN\u00ba 1, Clocktower, 2012\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/ostrowski.info\/?attachment_id=215'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/ostrowski.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/IMG_0214-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-215\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-215'>\n\t\t\t\tN\u00ba 1, IDIO Gallery, 2015\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/ostrowski.info\/?attachment_id=223'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/ostrowski.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/we02perm-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-223\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-223'>\n\t\t\t\tN\u00ba 2, New Orleans, permanent installation\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/ostrowski.info\/?attachment_id=220'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/ostrowski.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/WE_NOLA_booth-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-220\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-220'>\n\t\t\t\tNew Orleans, LA &#8211; 4\/24\/2015 &#8211; The Music Box Roving village is a musical art installation located in City Park. On Friday April 24th, A shifting ensemble cast of local and visiting artists coaxes sound out of the structures of the Roving Village including members of Wilco, who headlined the Gentilly stage at Jazz Fest earlier that day. Everyone except frontman Jeff Tweedy participated. Others in the mix included New York jazz trumpeter Steven Bernstein (of John Lurie&#8217;s Lounge Lizards, among others); locals Sean Yseult of White Zombie, Luke Winslow-King, Mr. Quintron, experimental guitarist Rob Cambre and freak-folk singer-songwriter Dustan Louque.\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/ostrowski.info\/?attachment_id=219'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/ostrowski.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/WE_NOLA_1-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/ostrowski.info\/?attachment_id=217'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/ostrowski.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/IMG_4027-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-217\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-217'>\n\t\t\t\tN\u00ba 2, New Orleans, 2015\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/ostrowski.info\/?attachment_id=216'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/ostrowski.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/IMG_0634-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-216\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-216'>\n\t\t\t\tN\u00ba 1, Governor&#8217;s Island, 2017\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n<p>This work exists in two versions: N\u00ba 1, for fifteen autonomous phones, and N\u00ba 2, an interactive work for one modified payphone, rotating speaker, and six standard phones, commissioned by New Orleans Airlift for their <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.neworleansairlift.org\/index.php\/component\/k2\/item\/63-the-music-box-roving-village\" target=\"_blank\">Music Box Roving Village<\/a>, exhibited at City Park, and now permanently installed in the <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"Music Box Village (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/musicboxvillage.com\" target=\"_blank\">Music Box Village<\/a>&#8216;s new location in the Bywater. Phone booth designed and built by Nina Nichols.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Western Electric is a generative composition of indeterminate duration for an array of fifteen computer-controlled rotary telephones. The telephones are linked to a computer controlling the sonic output of the bells. Old telephones sound via mechanical rather than electronic means: their bells are struck by clappers. In this work, the speed and position of the &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/ostrowski.info\/?page_id=32\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Western Electric (2012 &#8211; 2015)<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":8,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-32","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ostrowski.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/32","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ostrowski.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ostrowski.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ostrowski.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ostrowski.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=32"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/ostrowski.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/32\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":395,"href":"https:\/\/ostrowski.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/32\/revisions\/395"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ostrowski.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ostrowski.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=32"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}