photo by Gerard Coenan
Thank you to Musica-Impulse Centre for Music (Belgium) for the Site Specifics workshop and the opportunity to present my site specific sound installation, The Hungry Bridge
Video of “Lovelace’s Tribute”; installation by Matti Havens and Gregory Kramer; 2018; Odetta gallery
This installation is in honor of Ada Lovelace, generally recognized as the first computer programmer. Lovelace was the daughter of famed poet Lord Byron and had a deep fondness for him and his work.
Each drawer of the installation, when opened, sings part of a famous poem by Lord Byron, and corresponds to an ascending Solfege scale. The drawers of the cabinet will function as simple binary on/off switches mimicking the basic binary function of computer code. The participant can try to figure out the correct order the drawers need to be pulled out so the poem is recited correctly.
Ada Lovelace understood the potential of technology as a creative tool as evidenced by the following quote:
“Supposing, for instance, that the fundamental relations of pitched sounds in the science of harmony and musical composition were susceptible of such expression and adaptations, the engine might compose elaborate and scientific pieces of music of any degree of complexity or extent.”
Photo from Minotaur Pt. 1; installation; 2015; Chashama 1351 Gallery
Video from Minotaur Pt. 1; installation; 2015; Chashama 1351 Gallery
Approach for A Small Turn of Human Kindness; installation; 2014; Røst AIR, Skomvær Fyr, Norway
Video from A Small Turn of Human Kindness; installation; 2014; Røst AIR, Skomvær Fyr, Norway
Photo from “Vampire State Building”, an eight channel performance at RFG Presents: Sonic Arts program; 2016
Photo from Coral St. Arts House, Philadelphia, PA
Melting Neapolitan is a soundwork made from field recordings of three distinct ice cream trucks. For many people, the sounds of ice cream trucks are evocative of a time and place. These three ice cream truck sounds (representing strawberry, chocolate and vanilla flavors of Neapolitan ice cream) are processed to be distant and atmospheric, yet familiar. The soundwork’s duration is eight minutes and it plays on loop. It was presented at Coral St. Arts gallery, Philadelphia, PA; 2019. Listen to an excerpt here.