Christian Nicolay
The Unknown Gifts project asked for participators to share their memories or feelings about death, and imagine a gift for themselves when they die, based from the Funerary Paper burning traditions in Taiwan. Artist Ya-chu Kang made these gifts into paper sculptures and presented as an installation using video projections. I responded to the installation by composing a 19 minute and 26 second soundtrack of what I thought the afterlife sounded like. The use of consonance and dissonance, melody and chaotic patterns unify the concept to reflect the known and unknown qualities of life and death. All of the sounds are original and were made during the artists Residency Period at Taipei Artists Village in Taipei Taiwan, October 1 to Nov 12, 2010.
Recomposed and remastered for Carry an Object with you project August - September 2012.
In the Carry an Object with you project Kang and Nicolay further develop their funerary research abroad working with participants from North America, Europe and Asia. If you could take only one thing with you when you die, what would that object be? Participators were photographed in the nude holding the object they would take with them after death in front of their face eliminating their identity placing more importance on the object. The relationship of the object to the various bodies brings a wide interpretation of our cultural landscapes and associations with death and the humans indivisible relationship with the material world activating such relationships as viewers/viewed, consumer/consumed and ephemeral/permanent.
Carry an Object with you was exhibited at the Schmiede Art Festival in Hallein Austria (2012), Museum of Medical Humanities, Taipei Taiwan (2012), Community Art Space, Hangzhou China (2013), and Kimoto Gallery, Vancouver BC Canada (2013).
Tools: Casio CTK-3000-Synthesizer hooked into a BOSS SP-303, Stagg acoustic guitar, RP-50 effect pedal, Z00M R-16 recorder, old microphone, lungs
Songs for a Synth was the result of renting a digital 8 track for another project I was doing and trying to lay down one new track in one night before I had to return the dig 8 back to the store in the morning.
Tools: PSS-680 Synthesizer hooked into a BOSS SP-303, RP-50 effect pedal, Yamaha guitar, old microphone, lungs
The Drunk Beaver was originally recorded as The Great Canadian Beaver for a dance performance by artist Lisa Birke. It has compiled into longer versions and live performances with projections.
Click on the link below to visuals composed to the song after it was written.
Tools: PSS-680 Synthesizer hooked into a BOSS SP-303, RP-50 effect pedal, Yamaha guitar, old microphone, lungs
The Mosquito was composed for a dance performance by artist Lisa Birke. Ever had 50 mosquitos in your van swarming around while your trying to go to sleep? I did. Don't leave your van door open in the Yukon Territory in the summer.
Tools: PSS-680 Synthesizer hooked into a BOSS SP-303, RP-50 effect pedal, Yamaha guitar, old microphone, lungs
In 2006 I was commissioned to create a new sound work for a National Radio Broadcast with CBC Radio One across Canada as part of the Deep Wireless Festival, New Adventures in Sound Art Festival(NAISA). This sound performance consisted of an unauthorized climbing of Lions Gate Bridge in Vancouver BC from the base to the 364 foot high tower and transforming it into a musical instrument, reconstructing the naturally occurring sounds into a harmonic musical composition by amplifying various parts of its internal structure.
Supported by the Canada Council for the Arts
Tools: Violin pick-up, piezo mic, tape recorders, PSS-680 Synthesizer hooked into a BOSS SP-303, RP-50 effect pedal, Yamaha guitar, old microphone, lungs