2014 AxS (Art & Science) Festival, CA
CAROLE KIM direction, video installation, live video
VINNY GOLIA woodwinds, gongs
JESSE GILBERT live video
MAKOTO TAIKO: KOJI NAKAMURA, HUNTER LOYD, AKEMI IMAI, MARTIN BLAGAICH, KAYO MENDOZA
Sat/Sun, October 4 + 5
USC Pacific Asia Museum, Pasadena
funded in part by a 2014 Center of Cultural Innovation (CCI) Investing in Artists Grant
NB: EDGES: Part II took place upstairs in the auditorium of the museum and focused on the multimedia aspect of the event.
This project brings together two different traditions of music for which I have great respect and passion: experimental improvisational music and taiko drumming. Through essentially opposite means, they both lead to a certain heightened state of readiness and responsiveness: one via the not knowing, the other via knowing through and through. "Taiko" refers to the art of Japanese drum ensembles (kumi-daiko), but the word literally means "fat drum." For this piece, I set out to harness some of the physicality of the drums by hooking them up to contact mics so that they could act as independent controllers of different aspects of the video mix. Combining this with Jesse Gilbert’s audio-reactive interface and Vinny Golia's agility in weaving his way in, around and through, sound and image are integrally locked in.
carolekim.com
vinnygolia.com
jessegilbert.net
makototaiko.org
