Museum of Contemporary Craft Presents Interactive Installation, Soundforge
Release date: 04/04/13
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 3, 2013
Contact:
Lisa Radon, Communications Specialist
Pacific Northwest College of Art
lradon@pnca.edu, 971 255 5528
Becca Biggs, Director of Communications
Pacific Northwest College of Art
bbiggs@pnca.edu, 971 255 5511
Museum of Contemporary Craft Presents Interactive Installation, Soundforge
Portland, OR – April 3, 2013 – Museum of Contemporary Craft in partnership with Pacific Northwest College of Art (PNCA) continues its SoundCraft series with Soundforge, a multimedia installation by metalsmith and “ethical jeweler” Gabriel Craig and composer Michael Remson. Curated by Anna Walker for Houston Center for Contemporary Craft (HCCC), Soundforge will be on view May 16, 2013 – September 21, 2013 in the Museum’s Upper Gallery.
The installation combines video, audio, and sculptural elements in an interactive piece that explores forging metal as an act of fabrication and percussion. Audiences are invited to use custom hand-carved wooden mallets to play hand-forged steel keyed instruments. Each key is tuned to complement the musical score, and it is through striking the keys that viewers successfully engage and complete the work.
Gabriel Craig and Michael Remson have collaborated on the concept, execution and implementation of this piece since late 2009. The primary visual element of Soundforge consists of massive, gate-like steel structures that the audience can “play” as larger-than-life instruments, in a manner similar to a xylophone. Using a mallet, participants can strike the steel structures at various points to create different tones. The structures, which reference historic wrought-iron motifs, are complemented by a fifteen-minute, original music composition and a video of forging that encourages the audience to interact with the work. The composition, which is influenced by Balinese Gamelan and Phillip Glass’ minimalist music, is created from the recorded sounds of Craig forging steel in his studio. With Soundforge, Craig and Remson have interpreted craft not only as finished objects—the steel structures and video—but also as the “crafting” of a musical score.
HCCC Curator, Anna Walker, commented, “Soundforge creates an incredible learning opportunity for those interested in music to explore craft and vice-versa. This installation is truly unique because of its cross-disciplinary approach to craft and the element of audience interaction. As an exhibition, the piece promotes community engagement, collaboration among different types of artists, and an understanding of craft as a process of making.”
As a metalsmith, writer and craft activist, Gabriel Craig has always been interested in the intersection of craft with other disciplines. His work often encompasses a larger message than that of a finished object. Craig’s studio work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, and his critical writing has appeared in various publications, including Metalsmith, American Craft, and FiberArts magazines. He completed artist residencies at HCCC in 2009-2010, and at Savannah College of Art and Design in 2010. He is currently an adjunct instructor in metalsmithing at Wayne State University in Detroit, MI. Craig received his BFA from Western Michigan University and his MFA in Jewelry and Metalworking from Virginia Commonwealth University. Soundforge is his largest project to date and his first collaboration with a composer.
Michael Remson is the Executive and Artistic Director of American Festival for the Arts (AFA). A Houston-area composer whose work has been performed throughout the U.S. and Europe, Remson is simultaneously a composer, librettist, author and educator. He has received awards and grant support from the American Music Center and Houston Arts Alliance, along with numerous fellowships and residencies, including The Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, The Ragdale Foundation, and the Tyrone Guthrie Centre. Remson completed doctoral studies in composition and libretto writing with Grammy Award-winner Carlisle Floyd, Robert Nelson, and Pulitzer Prize-winner Edward Albee. He is an alumnus of New York University, the University of Houston, and Carnegie Mellon University. This project represents the first time he has contributed his music to the creation of a large-scale art installation.
ABOUT MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY CRAFT
Committed to the advancement of craft since 1937, Museum of Contemporary Craft in partnership with Pacific Northwest College of Art is one of Oregon’s oldest cultural institutions. Centrally located in Portland’s Pearl District, the Museum is nationally acclaimed for its curatorial program and is a vibrant center for investigation and dialogue, expanding the definition of craft and the way audiences experience it.
ABOUT PACIFIC NORTHWEST COLLEGE OF ART
As Oregon’s flagship college of art and design since 1909, Pacific Northwest College of Art has helped shape Oregon’s visual arts landscape for more than a century. PNCA students study with award-winning faculty in small classes. In the last seven years, PNCA has doubled both the student body and full-time faculty, quadrupled its endowment, and added innovative undergraduate and graduate programs. PNCA is now embarking on its boldest venture yet by establishing the Arlene and Harold Schnitzer Center for Art and Design as an anchor for the College’s vision of a new campus home on Portland’s North Park Blocks. Focusing on the transformative power of creativity, the capital campaign, Creativity Works Here, was launched in June 2012 with a lead gift from The Harold & Arlene Schnitzer CARE Foundation of $5 million. PNCA’s new home will be a bustling hub for creativity and entrepreneurship, reflecting the influential role of art and design in our 21st century economy – both in Portland and beyond. For more information, visit pnca.edu.