MARLA HLADY (CA)
Sound in collaboration with Eric Chenaux
Artist Statement:
My practice predominantly involves audio and kinetic based sculpture and sculptural installation. These works take on a myriad of forms and are made of a variety of materials ranging from motors and audio to wood and found objects. I consistently address the idea of utility where the sculptures and installations are insistently functional, whether through the repeated gestures of the kinetics or through the utilitarian objects referenced by the forms that support the audio and/or kinetics. My work, however, alters the function we expect from the things they resemble - for example, a cocktail shaker is used to mix two mono channels of sound instead of gin (as in MIXER). Whether an independent sculpture or an installation, how a visitor activates or is invited to interact with a work is a part of the functional understanding of the work.
This can happen literally, as in A CASE FOR SOUND, when a visitor handles the object and causes the sound to turn on and off - and if turned on and off rapidly, creates a sound reminiscent of a skipping record. Interaction can also be spatial/sensorial, as in WAH-WAH TEAPOT where receiving the "stereo" of the teapots is possible depending on how a visitor locates his/her listening point. I am interested in the relationships between the work, the space it occupies and the implications of the visitor - both a physical body and a social construction. The play between content, form, material and functionality is a dynamic part of my studio investigations. Within this complex play, material investigation is critical. By material I refer as much to what will be heard as to what will be seen.
For Five Thousand Generation of Birds, I continue these approaches to making in relation to a theme I´ve used previously, that of ´wilderness tourist´.
Artist Bio:
Marla Hlady draws, makes sculpture, works with sites and sounds and sometimes makes video. Hlady´s kinetic sculptures and sound pieces often consist of common objects (such as teapots, cocktail mixers, jars) that are expanded and animated to reveal heretofore unexpected sonic and poetic properties often using a system based approach to composition.
"Playing Piano" (2006/2008),
Made with the assistance of Canada Arts Council, Ontario Arts Council and Toronto Arts Council.
"A Case for Sound", 2009 (ongoing)
"Wilderness Tourist 2" (2006) installed in a store window (Toronto, Canada), commissioned by Interaccess Electronic Media Arts Centre