david fodel - "because things should go up off into the header area"

Constructive Interference: Emmanuel Gallery 2011

dfodel — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 15:26:47 -0700

Constructive Interference is a hybrid artwork that questions the boundaries between installation and performance, instrument and environment, system and situation.
Artists David Fodel and Paco Proano use the notion of constructive interference, a concept rooted in wave dynamics, as a metaphor for the process of collaboration itself, and as a way of exposing individual and collective modes of experience and perception.

The artwork tracks the movement of multiple gallery visitors, translating those actions into audible and visible feedback. The sound component is a specially tuned set of sine wave harmonics that are played back through a unique set of loudspeakers built from large bowed sheets of custom-finished plate steel. These steel plates, suspended from the gallery ceiling, each possess specific sonic qualities which resonate and combine tones, creating a complex “chorus” that reverberates through the unique architectural space of the selected site: in this case, the oldest standing religious structure in Denver.

As visitors move through the space, their movement and location are tracked and used to modulate the sounds and resulting harmonics. Visually, those waveforms, and additional visual elements, are projected back into the space using a multi-projector system that creates an immersive audiovisual experience. The sounds and the images react to one other, and to the audience, who collectively create the ongoing experience.

Architecture and science, engineering and rational thought, have converged to create structures and materials that have protected and empowered humans for ages. Religion and belief, magic and mystery, have brought people together in collective rituals to raise our voices to that which is greater than the sum of our individual strengths. Celebrating this convergence, this constructive interference, we acknowledge the extensions of our spirit through this playful entanglement with technology, bodies, and space.
Working within the once active liturgical space, a sensitivity to the structure and to it’s intended purpose drove the project. A congregation exists as a community, a collective voice. The high ceilings and hard surfaces of the structure — elements designed to blend the singular voices of the congregation into a larger whole — are used to diffuse, merge and enhance the harmonics of the sound waves generated by the artwork.

On opening and closing nights the artists perform a series of real-time audiovisual compositions directly through the installation, transforming the space into a spectacular experience of sensory overload and subtle, minimal aesthetics. Guest artists were invited on closing night to compose and perform in the space, utilizing the audiovisual system in whatever ways they deemed appropriate. The result of this broad collaboration opens the artwork to other modes of interaction including dance, voice, traditional musical instruments and more.

Tangible artifacts in the form of silkscreen prints are similarly developed from subtle, additive overlays of offset monochromatic shades, providing evidence of the ephemeral processes employed by the artists in the construction and operation of the system.
Constructive Interference attempts to explore those hybrid spaces that exist between media, materials, human interaction and collaborative play through the use of open-ended systems, processes and aesthetics.

Closing event at Emmanuel on Thursday Aug. 25th featured:

Katie Elliott -dance (3rd Law Dance Theater)
Paul Fowler - voice
Matt Pass - voice and horns
Janet Feder - guitar and voice
David Fodel and Paco Proano: live media performance

A photo gallery of images shot during the installation and during an "ambisonic" recording session is available, as well as a binaural recording of the actual installation from the point of view of a typical single gallery visitor. The full-surround recordings will be available soon.

Binaural audio recording of active installation

Constructive Interference Binaural by davidfodel

Nimitta: Best of Show, "Frame of Mind" - Denver Performing Arts Complex

dfodel — Sun, 15 May 2011 08:51:19 -0700

"Frame of Mind," is a showcase of digital media featuring 50 works by 38 artists presented in conjunction with Create Denver in downtown Denver on May 13th.
The event was sponsored by Downtown Denver Partnership
and the Denver Theatre District. Works were screened on the large outdoor LED screen of the Denver Performing Arts Complex located at the corner of 14th and Champa Street in downtown Denver. The panel discussion (which I was part of) and reception were hosted on the 9th floor of the new Spire building. The show was compiled and programmed by curators Ivar Zeile, Creative Director for the Denver Theatre District and owner of Plus Gallery, Denver, CO and Ryan Pattie, also of Plus Gallery. The event was showcased on 9 News (the projection mapping came after the Frame of Mind screening on the building across the street).

Above is a shot of the big LED screen on the exterior of the Performing Arts Complex in Downtown Denver. This is taken from the 9th floor patio, where the reception was held. This was a little earlier in the evening before the screenings occurred, just to give a sense of context for the size of the screen and location. Below is a capture of the actual work so you can see what it is in better quality. They had indicated there would be a DJ playing while the videos played on the big screen, so I did something that was driven by a steady beat. So I guess you should watch it listening to something like that. Or traffic sounds. Or both, like you're sitting there in your car watching it, listening to some beats on the car stereo.

Below is a shot of my work being played on the big LED screen on the exterior of the Performing Arts Complex in Downtown Denver. This is taken from the 9th floor patio, where the reception was held. Not the best quality recording, but I wanted to show it on the actual big screen. My piece won Best of Show. There was a lot of great work shown, and it was an honor to be in the company of so many excellent artists.

Panel Discussion - "Local Network: Gathering of New Pioneers" Denver, USA

dfodel — Sun, 15 May 2011 10:46:00 -0700

As part of Create Denver Week, I was invited to participate in a panel discussion for an event called "Local Network: Gathering of New Pioneers" with 16 other panelists from various industries. The discussion was titled "Counterpoint: One Question, 15 Voices" but I think there were at least 16 of us, although that one guy had laryngitis.

Here is my 3 minute presentation, which seemed to be pretty well received. Below is the evening's events. I also was selected to participate in the Frame of Mind video art showcase, for which I won Best of Show.

Wow, what an awesome night.

FRIDAY, MAY 13
LOCAL NETWORK: Gathering of New Pioneers
A Multi-Platform Event Sponsored by the Downtown Denver Partnership
   COUNTERPOINT: ONE QUESTION, FIFTEEN VOICES
    “How will technology shape tomorrow’s new economy?”
    Spire Building, 9th Floor, 14th & Champa
    6-7:30pm – Reception to follow (RSVP)

    FRAME OF MIND: CURATION OF VISUAL ART PIONEERS
    Outdoor LED presentation, 14th & Champa
    8:30-9pm

    DESIGN PIONEERS: 3D VIDEO PROJECTION SHOWCASE
    Outdoor presentation on the Ellie Caulkins Opera House, 14th & Champa
    Programming by Legwork Studio, Kris Collins, Justin Gitlin, Danny Newman & Joe Mease
    DJ Set by Pictureplane
    Event host, Sid Pink
    9-9:30pm

Solar Wind Harp at Do It! Exhibition

dfodel — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 07:42:05 -0700

"do it" Exhibition
May 6 - July 29, Philip J. Steele Gallery
Curated by Cortney Stell

Yoko Ono: to mix a building and the wind
remixed by david fodel and paco proano

The solar wind harp is an "instrument" that uses realtime solar wind data collected once a minute from the NASA ACE satellite as the stimulus for interpretive software that synthesizes sound and image. Below is an excerpt of the live streaming performance of the audiovisual work as it was displayed in the Mary Harris Auditorium of the Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design on opening night of the show. A 4-channel sound system and ceiling projections created an immersive experience for show visitors. Subsequently, a video excerpt was displayed in the gallery for the duration of the exhibition.

We are surrounded by invisible forces: physical, political, economic. By making the invisible visible, perhaps the layers of interpretation are made more apparent. Intrinsically meaningless relationships are foregrounded within a poetic framework; made meaningful. Each instance of the solar wind harp is unique in its configuration and in the actual solar activity for the duration of the performance. It represents the process of interpretation as it enacts the same process.

david fodel: programming, sound design
paco proano: sound design
george millward: science consultant

Exhibition Info:

"do it" Exhibition
May 6 - July 29, Philip J. Steele Gallery

Opening Reception
Friday, May 6, 6 - 9 pm
Philip J. Steele Gallery

do it is a unique exhibition that centers on the notion of interpretation as an artistic principle. Starting with a manual of written, do-it-yourself instructions compiled from internationally renowned artists, the idea is for other artists to carry out the instructions and re-imagine the procedures from their own individual perspectives. These procedures range from household chores and recipes to random social activities and abstract concepts. They can be as complex as Tacita Dean’s directions for finding a four leaf clover or as simple as Louise Bourgeois’ invitation to smile at a stranger.

RMCAD’s do it will feature a pool of more than 30 regional artists including graphic designers, musicians, museum directors, gallery owners, and several RMCAD alumni. The exhibition is interpreted and curated by Cortney Stell, Gallery Director. For more details and a complete list of artists, visit http://bit.ly/rmcad-doit.

Modulation Series 1

dfodel — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 15:23:04 -0700

The first in an audiovisual series produced by Object and Thought, in Denver USA. Documentation from a March 31st, 2011 audiovisual performance at the Mary Harris Auditorium on the campus of the Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design. Paco Proano and I performed 4 modules using 3-screen sound-reactive projections that spanned the entire front of the space and wrapped around onto the side walls. The work was inspired by recent travels through Europe and Africa. Special thanks to Cortney Stell, Stacey B., Ryan Pattie, and Rob Miller.

"See Hear Now" at Pirate Gallery

dfodel — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 13:09:50 -0700

"See Hear Now" is an interactive audiovisual installation by David Fodel, that connects perception to play and interference to memory.

The installation is composed of 2 related components, the Modulator and the Modulations.

The Modulator is a modified arcade-style gaming cabinet, complete with functioning customized coinOp() mechanism. Custom software creates simple sine waves that are tuned to generate specific harmonics both visually and sonically.

Operating the knobs and buttons on the console allows the user of the work to become coauthor of the output, and to have a unique individual experience each time the worked is “played”.

The Modulations are silk-screen prints; artifacts of the process of operating the Modulator. Each print is a series of screen captures, snapshots of the session, memories of the experience.

Our senses are intricately interwoven and our impressions of the world are created through those sensory apparatus. We create connections, we invest our attention, and we engage in the world through enacted perception. The game console is analogous to that mode of perception. We make an investment, insert a quarter, and we use our body, turning knobs and pressing buttons, mixing the sights and sounds, creating interference patterns that collide and construct. In this process we generate memories, artifacts of this process, represented by the silk-screen prints, the Modulations, which are the direct output of the Modulator unit.

Special thanks to Paco from Object+Thought studio, and to Alec Vance for the Sinewave Workshop.

"Sunflowers" at Center for Visual Art

dfodel — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 19:59:36 -0800

"Sunflowers", a single-channel video work, is a playful look at the traditional Still Life format. The idea was to create very subtle movement in the stillness, and to foreground the evolving nature of our relationship to materials and matter through ever more sensitive technologies of observation.

We arranged the still life to look very much like Van Gogh's work of the same name, using fake plastic sunflowers. The background color was created using fabric draped across the set-up and activated using multiple window fans. We then shot the scene at 60 frames per second, capturing the fluttering cloth and plastic flowers. Slowing the playback significantly yielded a 6 minute loop from about 10 seconds of action.

Some selective processing of the imagery results in deliciously sensual movement and rich vibrant color. A subtle contemplative work that draws the viewer in, even as it demands no attention at all. An ambient video painting. Special thanks to Pax of Medium VFX for technical assistance.

ETC: Experimental Television Center 1969-2009

dfodel — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 11:55:59 -0800

Thanks to Sherry Hocking at the Experimental Television Center for including work by Brian Kane and myself in their new DVD anthology. It’s an honor to be included in this collection with such amazing artists. The massive 19 hour collection can be purchased through Electronic Arts Intermix.

ETC: Experimental Television Center 1969-2009
2009, 19 hours, b&w and color, sound, DVD
ETC: Experimental Television Center 1969-2009 is a groundbreaking compilation of electronic media work by 100 artists who have worked in the Center’s Residency Program during the last 40 years.

October in Paris and Berlin

dfodel — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 13:19:31 -0700

During the height of protests in France, I made my way, along with recent collaborator Paco Proano, to Lyon, Paris and Berlin. Along the way, we met with other artists to explore possible collaborations, venues and projects. Looking at ways to engage with dance and movement as expressive input into audiovisual performance systems, we explored motion tracking systems, some hastily hacked Processing and Quartz Composer work, and how these might conceptually and performatively serve as analogs to human biological systems.

As a reaction to the situation in France at the time (and my jet lag), I sketched my impressions along the way, via audiovisual means based on the sights and sounds of travel (ie. trains and planes). I have included one such sketch here as an example:

Constructive Interference

dfodel — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 20:12:02 -0700

Constructive Interference is a collaborative installation and performance environment created by David Fodel and Paco Proano.
The installation features a motion-tracked audiovisual environment which effectively turns the entire space into a performed instrument.

Throughout the month of July, coinciding with the Biennial of the Americas, the studio will present live performances taking advantage of this custom performance environment.
For each performance Constructive Interference uses an array of suspended steel plates as a "heavy metal" sound system, where the material objects become activated sonically and animated visually creating a unique, subtle and sometimes spectacular feedback system for audiovisual live performances.

Performing July 8th is Manifold, a 3 piece AV ensemble with George Millward on electric guitar, David Fodel on live electronic processing and Stacey B. performing live video. Also experimenting will be Steve Hahn on Chapman stick and Andrew Blanton performing Yasuo Sueyoshi's avant-garde yet gorgeous Mirage for marimba, stylizing Kabuki theater.

Performing July 15th is Colorado visionary of composition for prepared guitars Janet Feder. The recent chair for the Naropa music department, Janet has played alongside such music legends as Fred Frith, Elliot Sharp, Nels Cline and Chris Cutler. Also playing with Janet is Berlin-based guitarist Josepha Conrad (aka susie asado) and guest poet Lisa Birman, director of the Kerouac School Summer Writing Program at Naropa.

Additionally, a very special performance of hardware extended improv electronics master Darwin Grosse will present his MAX/MSP patchwork and its direct sonic consequence projected live.

For more data on these special performers please visit ::