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23/1/2009

Unpredictable Forms of Sound and Motion

Bitforms Gallery, New York

Curated by Steve Sacks

United States premiere of the Tim Knowles Walk series
New York debut of Pe Lang + Zimoun

Unpredictable Forms of Sound and Motion engages creative contemporary perspectives on
automated systems, performance, and sculpture. Curated by Steve Sacks.

bitforms gallery is pleased to announce its first exhibition with artists Tim Knowles (b. 1969, United Kingdom) and duo Pe Lang (b. 1974, Switzerland) and Zimoun (b. 1977, Switzerland). With several works making their international premiere, three Untitled Sound Objects by Pe Lang + Zimoun will be part of the exhibit, along with photography, video and sculpture from Tim Knowles' Walk series.

Attracted to natural materials such as trees, moonlight, water, and geo-data, artist Tim Knowles uses cameras and drawing to reveal the hidden, or otherwise unnoticed motion of objects. For example, Knowles’ Postal Drawings are created en route from the artist’s studio to its final destination and capture the commonplace movements within a global tide of transfer points. Likewise exploring the interlaced spaces of earthwork, landscape and Fluxus systems, his works from the Windwalks and Nightwalks series engage the artist’s capricious wanderings.

Nightwalk–Valley of Rocks is a series of illuminated walks that Knowles created in Devon during a new moon and captured using an extended exposure photograph. Over a period of about one hour in these pieces, the artist walks away from a tripod-mounted camera while carrying very powerful flashlights illuminating his path along a rocky ridge in the darkness. Invoking Plato’s allegory of the cave, a pathway of ghostly travelers shines inside an electrified landscape.

Knowles’ Windwalk–5 Walks from Charing Cross is a sequence of performances guided solely by the wind. Playfully exploring drawing and narrative, the artist used a helmet-mounted wind vane for direction and traced his steps with a GPS device. Originating from the geographic center of London in this piece, nocturnal city life is revealed through video documentation. Examining the human mark and control of territory, the piece takes a sharp absurdist jab at the effectiveness of modern tools in time of conflict. Executed in the early hours of the morning and guided by a set of self-authored rules, unpredictable events unfold and Knowles’ route becomes increasingly chaotic and indecisive. Whirling currents bouncing off buildings lead the artist into virtual wind cul-de-sacs of littered plastic bags and swirling leaves with no escape until the wind once again changes its direction.

Exploring mechanical rhythm and flow in prepared repetitive systems, the sculptures of Pe Lang + Zimoun incorporate commonplace industrial objects. Pieces in their Untitled Sound Objects series transform constructed acoustic and electrical noises into reverberating ambient hums that resemble natural systems. Visually activated by a cyclical form that is entirely composed of manufactured materials, Untitled Sound Objects - 100 Prepared DC Motors and Chains in Wooden Type Cases aurally resonates in way that is similar to rushing water, rain or a gust of wind through a long tunnel. Also affixed to the gallery wall, Untitled Sound Objects - 400 Prepared Vibration Motors in Wooden Type Cases features a white minimalist grid that contain spinning metal and rubber components. A third sculpture, Untitled Sound Objects - 49 Prepared Vibration Motors generates a subtly shifting buzz of electrical feedback from bobbling black nubs at the ends of red and blue dangling wires.

Biography – Tim Knowles
The creative practice of Tim Knowles incorporates chance operations and performance into his mark making. Elements of form are open to mechanisms or phenomena beyond the artist’s control–seeking to reveal the hidden, or otherwise unnoticed motion of objects such as the path drawn by the full moon’s reflection on undulating water or the intricate movement of a parcel traveling through the postal system. Tim Knowles has been featured in numerous solo and group exhibitions throughout Europe including the Generali Foundation, Vienna; Economist Plaza, London; Rokeby Gallery, London; Artissima, Torino; Plymouth Arts Centre, UK; Hayward Gallery, London; Bloomberg Space, London; Hull Time Based Arts, Hull; Gallery Skuc, Ljubljana; Essor Gallery, London; Comune di Codogno, Italy; and Zero, Italy. The second of two unique Royal Mail collaborations with Royal Mail will be completed shortly. His awards include grants from South West Arts, the British Council in Rome and a residency with Makrolab [Artscatalyst] Art and Science Research.

Biography – Pe Lang + Zimoun
Swiss artists Pe Lang + Zimoun have been collaborating since 2004 creating the “Untitled Sound Objects” which are presented as sound installations and also as live performances with audio and visual components. They have been featured in numerous solo and group shows as well as performances throughout Europe, Asia, and North America including the Gosia Koscielak Gallery, Chicago; Elektroni[k] Festival, Rennes; Marks Blond Project, Bern; Espacio Menosuno, Madrid; Die Schachtel, Milan; Artis Gallery, Büren; Stadtgalerie, Bern; Leerraum [ ], Bern; Kunstraum, Aarau; Sonic Acts XII, Amsterdam; ISEA, Singapore; Nemo Festival, Paris; The Netherlands Media Art Institute, Amsterdam; Volksystem, Toulouse; Cybersonica 06, London; Intersonar, Freiberg; Elektra Festival, Montreal; tag <>, Den Haag; Blurred Edges Festival, Hamburg; Melkweg, Amsterdam; Ausland, Berlin; Monkey Town, New York; and Dissonanze Festival, Rome. Recently, they were awarded a Sitemapping/Mediaprojects award from the Bundesamt für Kultur in Switzerland in 2008 as well as numerous individual awards and residencies.

For more information please visit:
http://bitforms.com
http://www.timknowles.com
http://www.untitled-sound-objects.ch/

Opening Reception: Sat. Jan 24, 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM

Bitforms Gallery
529 west 20th - New York
Free admission

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