January 2011
Error Benders:
Audio/Video Object Exhibition and Performance Series
Saskatoon/Regina March 28 - April 4 2011
Curated and performed by Give & Make
The title for Error Benders refers to a technique of modifying electronic circuitry (circuit-bending) and to the acceptance/celebration of unwanted or unintentional sounds that may result. As a point of departure, this aesthetic of exploration and acceptance challenges traditional paradigms of music composition, control, and parameter, as well as the relationship between composer and performer. Error Benders engages with these ideas through exhibition and performance of, and its goals include:
- To curate objects in the form of modified or rebuilt musical or visual instruments from artists across Canada, and to present these objects in performance.
- To present the instruments and the artists' methods and technologies, including a consideration of physical objects as musical score and modes of composition.
- To design and deliver hands-on workshops for building simple electronic or electroacoustic musical and visual instruments.
Give & Make tread unpredictable territory with performances and installations that encourage outside participation and exploration. They welcome glitches and other errors in their works, feeding off the irregular and not always palpable control. In the current project, Error Benders, the duo will perform with and present the work of artists across Canada who build unique and fascinating electronic media instruments.
Prairie artists Jeff Morton and Leeane Berger formed the duo Give & Make in 2009 during a collaborative exhibit in Saskatoon, as part of Z-Axis, at PAVED Arts, curated by Carrie Gates. Their installation piece was a neon twilight environment of circuit-bent electronics and generative video built from hackable consumer electronics and make-able software, a visually tangible array of sound controlled by the participation of the public. Z-Axis also featured Leeane Berger and Jeff Morton in a series of workshops on tools and techniques for live electronic media performance and collaboration.
