Description
The Mattress Factory is pleased to announce
A Generous Act. This exciting and innovative project brings together a remarkably talented group of musicians from a varied geographical positions and a broad range of musical genres and interests to collaborate over a period of 16 days. During the first half of July, the Mattress Factory has converted the 4th floor of the museum into a practice area and fully functioning recording studio. The residency will culminate in a performance of the music the collaborators have generated during this period of time and the release a recording of this music on CD and vinyl formats. Participants include: Karl Burke (aka Karl Him), Daniel Bracken, James Broder, Slim Cessna, Sean Carpio, Eileen Carpio, Lucinda Chua, Nathan Hall, Nina Hynes, Jeffrey Inscho, Simon Jermyn, Fabien Leseure, Benoit Leseure and Karla Stauffer. The curator of this project, Mark Garry, has spent the past two years visiting Pittsburgh while undertaking a curatorial residence at the Mattress Factory, continuing a relationship that began when Mark undertook an artist residency for an exhibition in 2007. In addition to becoming much more aware of Pittsburgh’s broad musical history, Mark became aware of the diverse group of remarkable musicians who work at the museum. Mark has invited musicians from Berlin, Dublin, London and Brussels to collaborate with these musicians enabling a somewhat unique situation where the staff are directly involved in generating what is presented at the museum. Equipment for the project was sourced from Dave Bjornson, who provided a mobile recording system consisting of a host of vintage equipment and instruments. The project will be mixed in Bjornson's studio located at the New Hazlett Theater. This project is organized by Mark Garry as part of the Mattress Factory's Curator-in-Residence Program made possible by generous support from The Fine Foundation. Funding from Culture Ireland, Richard King Mellon Foundation, Allegheny Regional Asset District, The Heinz Endowments and the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.
About the Artist
Karl Burke attended the Dun Laoihaire College of Art, Design, and Technology and obtained a degree in Interactive Multi-Media. His work consists of video, photographs, sound works, and installations and he focuses on the perceptions of time and space.
Lucinda Chua is a London based artist who focuses on photography and music. She has created content for Faber and Faber, BBC, Guardian Books, Channel 4, and Wallpaper* Online. She creates music and photography.
Jeffery Inscho was an employee of the Mattress Factory from 2007 until 2010 and was in charge of marketing and public relations.
Danny Bracken’s creative practice explores interactions between video, sound, and physical space, ranging from immersive, multi-sensory installations to small-scale sculptures. Born into a family of musicians, sound occupies a central role in his work; finding a place in film scores, installations, and stand-alone recordings. At the heart of these investigations lies an interest in the relationship between humans, the natural world, and technology. Throughout the work he explores the ways in which technology has shifted how we perceive and experience the people and places that surround us. Bracken’s music further extends this dialogue, examining the tenuous balance between digital possibility and human impression, creating in a context that is constantly shifting between analog and digital realms.
After completing a visual arts degree in 2005, Bracken joined the Chicago-based music collective Anathallo. The group toured extensively throughout North America, Europe, and Japan with over 500 performances including appearances at Lollapalooza, Coachella, among others. In 2014 he was awarded an Artist Opportunity Grant to support a residency at
La Fragua, in Belalcazar, Spain. In early 2015 he mounted his first solo exhibition in partnership with the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust. He has composed music for film and television, most notably for the documentary Blood Brother, a 2013 Sundance Festival award winner.
Nathan Hall uses music as an artistic medium to explore a variety of fields including science, nature, the fine arts, history and sexuality. His site-specific performances are often inspired by the performers and locations for which they are commissioned. Other works are inspired by the composer's sexuality and experience as a gay man, creating a special intimacy between performer, place, and audience.
He is a former Fulbright Fellow to Iceland, and holds his Doctorate in Musical Arts from the University of Colorado, Boulder. His works have been performed and exhibited around the world, and his collaborations with artists and musicians include Rhona Byrne, Slim Cessna, Ragnar Kjartansson, Magnus Trygvason Eliassen, Ásdís Sif Gunnarsdóttir and Kim Dickey. Hall has been awarded numerous awards and grants, and his residencies include Denver Art Museum's first Creative in Residence and the Ogilvy Travel Fellowship to Ireland. He is President-Elect of the Board of Playground Ensemble and currently lives in Denver.
