Back from SoundWalk!

I got back from Long Beach earlier this week.
I had a great time participating in SoundWalk 2011. I am proud of how my "Faeries in Flight" installation was received, and I experienced so many great people and pieces in the show! The things I liked best tended to be live analog electronic performances and relational works.

I'm glad I spent the amount of effort I did working on the visual portion of "Faeries". The sonic & scent parts came together on their own (though I tinkered until the last minute) but I struggled with materials (wire, fabric, and all sorts of lights) before finding the birch bark tubes & wicker moon.

Here's the original audio, which grew into a 5 hour extravaganza in Ambiophonic sound:

Faeries in Flight by Winstontaneous

A brief video snippet:



And some pictures:

Will post footage of other peoples' pieces soon!

Faces in the Landscape

In April 2011 I took some lovely pictures on Dillon Beach in Pt. Reyes Station, CA. When I got home and loaded them into my computer, I discovered these two stony faces: a Sphinx and a gnome!

The Sphinx and Gnome were still there when I returned in April 2012! Pierre the Gnome is covered with with thick green moss--the only vegetation visible on the whole cliff face. Water trickles down from above him, and there's a little pool with fishies right at his feet. Pierre faces South, the Sphinx West, right where California meets the Pacific Ocean.

SoundWalk

My piece "Faeries In Flight" was accepted to the SoundWalk Festival in Long Beach, CA on Saturday, October 1. It's a multimedia (sound/scent/visual) installation. Here's some of the audio:

Faeries in Flight by Winstontaneous



More soon!

My First Photo Show

On June 6 I put up my first photo exhibit at the Works In Progress Gallery @ JFK University in Berkeley, CA.

Preparation was an interesting process...I literally went through every picture I've ever taken in search for the right ones. I was very pleased with the images I picked and the way they were printed.

"Washing Matthew's Feet"

"Soul Silhouette: Nana Mary"

"In Motion"

"Euge & BD"

"JONESY"

"Sebastopol Sunset"

"Cosmic Opening"

"Wizdom"

"Copperopolis"

"Numinous Head"

"Lovely Lady"

"Shelly's Belly"

Be Reasonable

I've started collaborating (doing music & sound design) with performance artist Anthony Julius Williams (he's on the left, I'm on the right).

He's doing a powerful piece that takes on the legacy of slavery, the prison-industrial complex, racism, the War on (Some) Drugs, police brutality, and other things.
He wants it to be heavy and thought-provoking, but ultimately hopeful.
I'm coming up with sounds and music to support his vision...

This comes at a perfect time, as this quarter I took Pamela Blotner's "Artist as Witness" class, which was all about effectively addressing political issues through art.

On June 14 Anthony did a 42 minute run-through of the show at JFK University.
I was amazed at the power of his conception and performance.
He integrated the sounds I gave him very well, and I felt like the music evoked the moods he wanted. The pace of his diction and movements, and his use of repetition create a truly hypnotic effect.

I haven't used this piece--"Be Reasonable"--in the show yet, but I think it can fit in there.
It's still a work in progress...I gave the bass the depth it needed, but I think the drums have to be more in-yo'-face.

Anthony has found a director and lighting designer and is searching for a venue.
I'm excited to develop my contributions and am looking forward to the official debut in the fall!

Be Reasonable by Winstontaneous

After Long

After Long by Winstontaneous

Virtual Group Hug

I had a wonderful time at Friday's Intermedia Happening, the culminating event for the quarter. The preparation was insane--I was in New Orleans for most of the week before, came back very sick, and had to work Thursday & Friday.

Nonetheless I managed to design & put together a CD which I released at the event.
Somewhere along the line this quarter I went from being a "musician who does some art" to feeling OK with calling myself an artist(e).

Everybody's work was wonderful, and there was a good turnout from start to finish.
It was particularly exciting to see everyone's altered book journals!
Thanks Robbyn Elizabeth JJ Carol Carol Kate Sara Amie Josefa Chris Alison!

Here's "Rhapsody In Pink," a short video that was part of my installation:

Rhapsody In Pink from Winston Berger on Vimeo.

L'il Pinky Spitler @ Home + JJ Wraps It Up from Winston Berger on Vimeo.

Kate's Chair

Elizabeth & Karen

Elizabeth's Collage

Josefa's Cage

Amie's Home

JJ

Dora the Destroya

Sara's Faces

Winston's Druid Flynamics

Carol Sarnoff's

Winston's Pizza Box

Kate's Mushroom Lady

Kate's Tree

Josefa's Picture

My Bro's Blog

My brother Nick Rusko-Berger--who has a BFA in Painting from the Maryland Institute College of Art--recently started his own art blog. Many useful tips & interesting works in progress.

Ever the younger brother playing catchup, I will be taking my very first painting class at JFK University this spring!

Isn't He A Doll?

Well, gurls aren't the only ones in class playing with dolls!

Last week I parked in a different spot at work.
As I grabbed my satchel from the trunk, I saw Shrek laying on the ground!

So Do You Be?

With me free, by 1000 amounts, by the ton and the ounce?

So Do You Be? by Winstontaneous

From a presentation I gave on musical time in last Tuesday's Intermedia class.
Same sample, backwards & forwards, in seven octaves.

Inspired by Curtis Roads' Microsound...especially page 5

Hey Hey Hey...What's Happening!!

Mandala Pizza + Haiku

red & yellow bells
kale, shallots, olives, onions
cheese, sauce, whole wheat crust

RhythMelodica I

RhythMelodica I by Winstontaneous

Guess So...But Maybe Not

Guess So...But Maybe Not by Winstontaneous

Moving Forth Into the Fourth...

...dimension!

"What is the divine mind? the reader will perhaps inquire. There is not a theologian who does not define it; I prefer an example. The steps a man takes from the day of his birth until that of his death trace in time an inconceiveable figure. The Divine Mind intuitively grasps that form immediately, as men do a triangle. This figure (perhaps) has its given function in the economy of the universe."
--Jorge Luis Borges, The Mirror of Enigmas, 1964

Mati Klarwein, Timeless, 1968

To Quench Your Thirst for Partch

Here are some juicy bits on Harry Partch, the composer I discussed in class last night.

This link includes Flash versions of his instruments, so you can play them on your screen. Also a bunch of audio clips in Real Audio format.



There's something very satisfying about seeing him play outside.
His instruments feel so ancient & natural & oceanic to me.
It's like he went down to the beach at low tide, raided Poseidon's toolshed, lashed together bundles of driftwood floating since the days of Atlantis, strung them up with sinewy seaweed, and started banging and twanging away!

Escaping From Flatland

I had a great time in class Tuesday night with everybody's art. Will post bits of mine soon.

I'm getting along better with my words ("elevated" "awareness" and "lost youth") after the 2D projects. For a l'il while there "lost youth" was working me over like a couple of two-bit thugs in a dark alley.

Not sure what the 3D phase will look like, but I got some inspiration last week visiting SFMOMA. My favorite piece was there was "Agave" by Elliot Hundley.

It's about 8 feet high and maybe 20 feet long. There is a flat layer of photos and printed paper. Many thousands of smaller images are pinned onto the surface.

I found some pictures here on rocor's flickr photostream:

In 2D it looks like a bit of a hot mess, but in person it's very elegant and in a continual state of becoming. Every time you move it's something new. The pins you see head on are invisible, all others are at an angle...the continual refocusing made me feel like I was walking on the surface of a small globe, not lookin' at flat art on a wall. This thing's alive, I tell you, and 100% in the analog domain. Remarkable!

Hello World!

Hi everybuggy!

My cat Sushi told me he was about to start a blog so I figured I'd beat him to it.
Plus I'm required to blog for my groovy Intermedia Class at JFK University in Berkeley.
Take that, kitty! 2 legs faster than 4! Merowwll!!!

Ermm...Why "Looking For A Certain Ratio"? It's a line from a Brian Eno song called "The True Wheel" that  has always resonated with me.



This phrase inspired me to make a little pastel drawing for my Art & Symbolic Process class last spring:

Searching for balance and proportion.

And...recently I've been exploring the ancient system of musical tuning known as Just Intonation. This is based on small whole-number ratios (eg 2:1, 3:2, 11:7) and follows the natural harmonic series. The result is sweet sounding intervals, noticeably different from the sound of Equal Temperament. This latter tuning system was adopted in the West roughly around the time of Bach in order to standardize keyboard instruments and allow for easy key changes. Equal Temperament is based on "irrational numbers" derived from the 12th root of 2. Long story short, none of the intervals it uses correspond to the natural ones. It's an abstraction much like the Gregorian calendar. But I digress...

Blah blah blah
Blog blog blog

More to follow!