Live Performance
Itziar Barrio in collaboration with Seth Cluett
Particle Matter is an audiovisual work created in collaboration with composer and sound designer Seth Cluett that Smack Mellon will present as a live performance activation in conjunction with Itziar Barrio’s solo exhibition, did not feel low, was sleeping. A materialist investigation into matter and multitudinous manifestations of the micro, Particle Matter approaches its subject in a rhizomatic fashion, utilizing the language of the montage–the dialectical technique of producing a new composite whole from fragments of moving images and sounds–to explore the forces catalyzing and created by the movements of the fragmented and microscopic; the pieces left over.
Many of the sound recordings included in Particle Matter were carried out at the historic anechoic chamber at Nokia Bell Labs (NJ), which absorbs over 99.995% of the incident acoustic energy above 200 Hz, and is considered one of the quietest places on Earth. Barrio and Cluett approach Particle Matter from the horizontal convergence of all the agents involved: images of geological phenomena, steam, gas, and particles; audio recordings of protests, dust of different origins. The live performance will expand on the original audiovisual work to feature live sound and image. Recordings from current protests as well as audio footage recorded in the anechoic chamber at Nokia Bell Labs will complement content from the original film.
Itziar Barrio is a multimedia artist based in NYC. She is internationally recognized for her contributions to the intersections of art, film, and technology. Her interdisciplinary, boundary breaking work has been exhibited at art institutions across the United States, Latin America, and Europe including: PARTICIPANT INC (NYC), MACRO Museum (Rome), MACBA Museum (Barcelona), Belgrade’s Contemporary Art Museum, Museo del Banco de la República (Bogotá), Salzburger Kunstverein, and the Havana Biennial. She teaches at the School of Visual Arts (NYC) and Sarah Lawrence College (NY), and has lectured internationally. Her monographic exhibition, BY ALL MEANS (2018), was curated by Johanna Burton, and her forthcoming monograph will be published by SKIRA in 2023. Barrio’s work has been written about in ARTFORUM, Art in America, The New York Times, The Brooklyn Rail, ART PAPERS, and BOMB among others. She has been awarded the Spanish Academy in Rome Fellowship and is currently a fellow at the New Museum’s NEW INC incubator, where she began developing the robotics works that will be on display at Smack Mellon.
Seth Cluett is a composer, performer, and visual artist. With work ranging from photography and drawing to installation, performance, and critical writing, his “subtle…seductive, immersive” (Artforum) sound work has been characterized as “rigorously focused and full of detail” (e/i) and “dramatic, powerful, and at one with nature” (The Wire). The recipient of grants from Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency Fund, NYSCA, and Meet the Composer, his work has been presented internationally at venues such as The Whitney Museum, MoMA/PS1, Moving Image Art Fair, CONTEXT Art Miami, GRM, and STEIM. He has received commissions from The International Contemporary Ensemble, TAK, Ensemble Offspring, and the Hong Kong Sinfonietta amongst others. Cluett is Artist-in-Residence at Nokia Bell Labs and Director of the Computer Music Center at Columbia University where he is on the faculty of music composition and serves as Assistant Director of the Sound Art MFA Program.
Image: Performance still from Itziar Barrio and Seth Cluett: Particle Matter at Fridman Gallery, March 13, 2022.
This exhibition and program are supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, New York City Council Member Lincoln Restler, and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature, and with generous support from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Lily Auchincloss Foundation, Robert Lehman Foundation, Select Equity Group Foundation, many individuals and Smack Mellon’s Members.
Smack Mellon’s programs are also made possible with public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts and with generous support from The Edward and Sally Van Lier Fund of The New York Community Trust, Jerome Foundation, The Roy and Niuta Titus Foundation, Milton and Sally Avery Arts Foundation Inc., and Exploring The Arts. In-kind donations are provided by Materials for the Arts, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs/NYC Department of Sanitation/NYC Department of Education.
Itziar Barrio, did not feel low, was sleeping is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. Since 2020, Barrio has been developing ROBOTA MML and Particle Matter as a member at the New Museum’s incubator NEW INC.
Space for Smack Mellon’s programs is generously provided by the Walentas family and Two Trees Management.
Smack Mellon would like to extend a special thanks to all of the individuals, foundations, and businesses who have contributed to the NYC COVID-19 Response & Impact Fund.