Sound Sculpture, an interactive public art exhibition, will be on display for two days only this week.
The New England Foundation for the Arts’ Creative City program announces Sound Sculpture, an interactive, physical, light and sound installation by Ryan Edwards, a Watertown resident, and Andrew Hlynsky, the artists announced. It will be on view for two nights only: April 28 and 29, 2017 from 7:30 to 11 p.m. at The Innovation & Design Building, located at 21 Drydock Avenue, Suite 110E, in Boston. The events are free and open to the public. For more information, visit https://www.soundsculpture.space/. There will also be special family programming on Saturday, April 29 from noon to 2 p.m.
Sound/Sculpture is a multi-media installation that meets at the intersection of sculpture, sound composition, and dance. Through the creation and fabrication of a participatory, life-sized set of building bricks, each fitted with an illuminating device and an assigned sound, Edwards combines visual and performance art elements. The orientation of the bricks in space determines the order of sounds, duration, and illumination. The public is invited to play, by arranging and co-creating a sculpture that in turn creates a sound score. Short dance vignettes by 360 Ensemble will help explore the relationship of the sound sculpture to movement unlocking the dynamic possibilities for the bricks in this unique space.
“I was inspired to develop this project from a love of music, building things, and the interesting intersection of sound and shape,” shares Edwards. “We are excited to reveal ways that music is made through physical structures and also attempt to reveal what some shapes ‘sound’ like.”
“Often, when composing music,” Edwards continues, “I would step away from the piano or drum and create something by painting or building to start to tease out a form, direction, shape, texture. These discoveries, through the physical arrangement of media, were then very helpful to me when returning to the piano to write. I then had a starting point, some basic outlines, and a few ‘colors’ to play with.”
About Artist Ryan Edwards
Ryan Edwards is a Boston-based inter-disciplinary artist with a background in West African drum and dance, jazz and new music composition. He composes extensively for contemporary dance and produces multi-media performance works and installations through the studio he co-directs – Masary Studios. He holds a degree in performance from Berklee College of Music, apprenticed extensively in traditional music, dance and instrument-building in Guinea, West Africa and works regularly with prominent public artists throughout New England. For more information, visit www.ryanedwards.com.
About Artist Andrew Hlynsky
Andrew Hlynsky is an interdisciplinary creative technologist, interaction designer, and musical instrument builder based in Boston, MA. His work spans a wide variety of digital, interactive, and physical mediums. Aside from the creation of art objects, he has spent eight years developing virtual instruments, four years teaching electronic music composition, and is currently working as an Interaction Designer in Cambridge, MA. Andrew has a Masters Degree from Berklee Valencia and has a BFA from Tufts University. For more information, visit www.andrewhlynsky.com.
About Artist Yo-el Cassell
Yo-El Cassell is Artistic Director of 360 Ensemble and is currently the Head of Movement/Assistant Professor for Boston University’s School of Theatre and on the faculty of Harvard University’s Dance Department. He was also the Resident Choreographer for Commonwealth Shakespeare Company and Guest Artist in Residence at Skidmore College. He has taught at Boston Ballet where he additionally served as the Program Manager for their acclaimed community engagement program Citydance. He also was the founder of their program Boys in Motion and served as the Student Engagement Manager for ArtsEmerson. Additional teaching endeavors include appointments at New England Conservatory, The NY School for Film and Television and The Sunshine Cottage School for Deaf Children. He has choreographed for The American Repertory Theatre, The Boston Landmarks Orchestra, The Boston Opera Collaborative, The Lyric Stage, Celebrity Series of Boston and The San Antonio Repertory Ballet. He has choreographed and directed the acclaimed Off-Broadway production of Moonlight Interior and his choreography is featured in the Miramax Films What Alice Found and Cultivating Stillness. Cassell has appeared in Shining Time Station with Ringo Starr, Anatomy of a Ballet and performed for Virginia Opera, The American Mime Theatre, The Pearl Lang Dance Company, Spencer/Colton Dance, Heidi Latsky Dance, and Palissimo Dance Theatre in which he was featured in their acclaimed Off-Broadway production of Blind Spot. He is a graduate of a graduate of The Boston Conservatory.