Elevator Music (2017)

Elevator Music 4

Sound installation September-October 2017 at Afrerro Gallery, Newark NJ. Curated by Jacob Mandel.

This piece was composed using a feedback loop processed through three pitch shifter effects pedals and one microphone, moving within a space slightly larger than the typical dimensions of an elevator. The repetitive ascension/descension in tone imitates the work-a-day function of the elevator, while the chaotic aberrations in tone imitate the mechanical deviations that inevitably occur. The piece confronts the ways in which we put our lives in the hands of mechanical, non-human systems everyday, and the dire consequences of their failure. It is intended as the antithesis to Muzak. Instead of piping calming (and saccharine) tones into this claustrophobic environment, it amplifies the creeping dread, invoking themes of faith vs. fear, technology vs. time, and the untameable beast of chaos that runs through our culture, society and political landscape more deeply than ever.