OptoSonic Echoes

OptoSonic Echoes is an 8-channel continuous sound installation positioned at the exterior of the Museum’s north entrance, containing the voices and sounds of participants in the September 27 performance, OptoSonic Tea @ the Parrish, an evening-length group improvisation featuring some of the world’s most innovative video and sound artists.

Conceived by OptoSonic Tea founders Katherine Liberovskaya and Ursula Scherrer, OptoSonic Echoes was put together by composer Michael J. Schumacher using recordings provided by the artists. The piece reveals thoughts about process, art, technical topics and collaboration, along with a smattering of musical sounds, noises, and field recordings. Visitors will have a chance to hear firsthand the ideas and concerns that will go into the creation of the special performance on September 27.

OptoSonic Echoes and OptoSonic Tea @ the Parrish are new commissions for the Museum’s Platform project, an annual invitation to an artist or artist collective to consider the entire Museum as a potential site for works that transcend disciplinary boundaries, encouraging new ways to experience art, architecture, landscape, and community.

Artists: Benton C Bainbridge, Marcia Bassett, Ranjit Bhatnagar, Kit Fitzgerald, Andy Guhl, Shelley Hirsch, CHiKA, Chris Jordan (cj), Katherine Liberovskaya, LoVid, Laura Ortman, Ursula Scherrer, Emma Souharce, Shane Weeks.

About OptoSonic Tea

Intermedia artist Katherine Liberovskaya and video/performance artist Ursula Scherrer conceived OptoSonic Tea as a series of salon-style meetings that explore various forms of live visuals and their interaction with live audio, followed by an informal discussion about the artists’ practices over a cup of green tea. The events took place at the Diapason Gallery in New York until it closed in 2011, at which time Liberovskaya and Scherrer began organizing evenings at venues in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Long Island including Silent Barn, FotoFono, Experimental Intermedia, The Living Gallery Outpost, and Pioneer Works; and in Europe with OptoSonic Tea On the Road.

Liberovskaya has been working predominantly in experimental video since the late 1980s. Over three decades, she produced many single-channel videos, video installation works, and video performances, which have been presented at myriad artistic venues and events around the world.

Scherrer’s work and collaborations with composers, choreographers, stage directors, light artists, and poets have been shown in festivals, galleries, and museums internationally. Originally trained as a dancer, she shifted her focus to choreography and expanded to photography, video, text, mixed media, and performance art.

Composer/producer Schumacher has worked with a range of instruments and musical forms including symphony, song cycle, and solo piano in the minimalist/avant-garde, rock, and ambient styles. Schumacher specializes in computer generated sound and processing of acoustic instruments such as prepared electric guitar, piano, and computer.

Platform: OptoSonic Tea @ the Parrish is made possible, in part, by the generous support of the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia, mediaThe foundation inc., and Sandy and Stephen Perlbinder.