 |
|
|
Kurzporträt:
Born 1970 in Murray, Utah. Michael Northam (aka mnortham) has had from childhood, an intimate and direct sense of land, of weather and of places. These formative experiences continue to inform his work.
His artistic trajectory has been a gradual process extending from early actionistic performances that explored what makes 'an environment' alive with intention, to current 'sound actions', field recordings explorations and compost(itions). In 1990 Northam spent a year living in Europe, beginning a new process of cross pollination between his rural experiences in north America and the urban cultural centers in Europe. Further extended stays in Europe have provided his work a crucial balance between inner and outer activities. Northam explores the avenue of direct electroacoustic improvisation, solo and with a variety of collaborators. His many 'sound actions' have taken place at venues throughout Europe and North America.
His first published CD ('an opening of the earth' with Martin Franklin, 1993 SDV) already carried marks of enigmatic tension - a tense film suspended between disturbance and fascination - an awkwardness and a confrontation with the absurd, with time, with our shared human predicament. Since then he has consistently produced works that give an opportunity for the listeners to challenge and examine themselves--exploring ideas of place ('stomach of the sky'), qualities of weather (':coyot:'), and perceptions of microscopic worlds ('from within a solar cave'). Similar such ideas have formed the basis of his installations such as 'entering molecular streams' (observatori festival, Valencia, Spain 2000) and 'circulating phases' (Klangturm, St. Pölten, Austria 2001). Such works have left impressions and elicited comments such as, "Musique fragile, qui ne cesse de s'émerveiller devant la complexité et richesse du sonore, et se veut une réhabilitation de l'expérience et de la perception comme catégories légitimes de la création musicale." Frederic Claisse, Revue et Corigee, France Current projects include a series of published works in the winter months of 2002/3, and a series of sonification works based on scientific datas such as this installation. For more information go to: http://radiantslab/mnortham/.
"my work has grown from a twelve year evolution of activities focused on the discovery, observation and experience of unique organically and inorganically driven sound phenomena. i work to expand the compositional implications of these complex but simply generated sources while being sensitive to the sound materials' energistic qualities and potentials. the discoveries are later woven and worked intuitively to create non referential sound works that test and exercise aural and temporal perception--discovering ways to suspend time and enfold sound." -
Michael Northam,
Oregon, 2002
|
|
