Jonathan Chaim Reus (Talk)
he/ him
Fri May 31 | de Brakke Grond
From hearing voices in spiritual transcendence, to the invention of the phonograph, the presence of the voice without a body has been an element of human cultures for millennia. In electronic music, the premier art form for sounds without bodies, the disembodied, amplified, processed and synthesised voice is the starting point, not the exception. But even in these anything-goes sonic landscapes, the traces of bodies still linger, and the idea of the singular human voice still holds a special aura and economic certainty. Jonathan Chaim Reus is seeking to build bridges between the human voice and these complex ecologies of experimental computing that exist across datasets, hardware, software, land, and air. Jonathan will give a talk, presenting some of his recent artistic work around the human voice and its artificial reproductions, and the ecology of voice data fundamental to the creation of data driven AI, the unique aesthetics of predictive synthesis emerging from Google’s WaveNet, and some ways we might want to imagine voice otherwise - beyond genres, traditions, or even species.
About the artist
Jonathan Chaim Reus is a transmedia artist and musician known for his use of expanded digital instrumentation in live, theatrical, and virtual (online) contexts. Thematically, his work often explores nuances and contradictions within single-story narratives around technology and culture. He has done extensive artistic research relating to musical instrument heritages and how concepts of tradition and folk art become transformed through technological change.
His most current work is exploring relationships between the human voice and its artificial reproduction. In 2022, he received the CTM Radiolab commission for the generative radio project and is affiliated with the Intelligent Instruments Lab and the Sussex Humanities Lab. His current research focuses on a supercomputing system as an ecological organism, and providing an embodied bridge between technology and the human listener.
This artist is part of the session “Artificial Togetherness”
Date: 1 June 2024
Time: 13:15 - 14:25
Location: de Brakke Grond
