Putting the finishing touches on our installation...time to Breathe!

Today we spent a good 8 hours (going on 9 now) putting the finishing touches on the Breathe Cambridge sound art installation. To be accurate it is more of a multimedia installation; we've painted walls, sewed pillows, constructed tables, and edited video for the space. In a space with no direct windows to the outdoors we have somehow managed to let the sky inside, inching closer to the fantasy of lounging on a cloud without the bottom falling out from beneath. The youth from Breathe weren't present but the teaching artists that led them through the process were on hand to make sure everything came together harmoniously.  We have things (a surprise for those who come and visit the space!) hanging from the ceiling, wet words on the walls and I've got a (relatively) portable recording studio setup here to finish up the sound portion of this multimedia piece. Bo Lembo, Shea Pilsbury, Carly Inkpen, Chris, Karin and I all pitched in to make this space into the transcendent experience we aim for.  The spirit of the youth artists is all around us as we finalize the space for our opening reception this Tuesday.  Find the facebook invite here. - M.J.

In the Artist's Own Words (Mini-Doc)

See what the artists of BREATHE: Cambridge have to say about the project as you get a glimpse of their journey through poetry, technology and public art while gaining a definition of self and world in the process.  This short piece serves as a sample of what is to come in the upcoming installation opening this Tuesday.

Watch the video here

The Process of Installation

Check out this process video that shows us transforming the space of the CAC Gallery into an airy blue, grey and white cloud-type of environment perfect for relaxing with our sound art.  This was fun!  We hope that you'll join us for our opening this Tuesday from 6 - 8pm @ 344 Broadway in Cambridge!

watch on youtube

Celebrate the Summer Solstice @ the opening reception for our Sound Art installation!

We have some special surprises in store for the opening of our sound art installation @ CAC Gallery.
Join us this Tuesday night from 6pm -8pm for our opening reception.  Listen to our art, experience the space we've transformed, see what surprises we have in store and enjoy some light refreshment.

"BREATHE: Cambridge" will be open from 6.21.11 thru 8.13.11

N.E.R.D Out!

This past Wednesday, June 15, the artists from BREATHE:Cambridge as well as other Cambridge youth artists working in digital media gathered to present their projects at Microsoft's N.E.R.D (New England Research & Development) Center.  Each of our participants presented on one aspect of our project as the image of the flyer for our show @ CAC Gallery was projected behind us.  Our group closed out our portion of the presentation by inviting the audience to join us in our ritual, the sound creation cypher.  As Dora opened the floor up to the audience the room transformed into a living, breathing piece of sound art.  It was pretty surreal how much we could do as a group with no technology at all, ironically in the HQ of one of the world's largest technology companies.  The event proceeded with sharing at various tables where we presented a short film about BREATHE:Cambridge, our soundcloud pages with our sound art, and our blog.  The audience was asked to add their voice to the next phase of the project as well as their opinions on where we can go from here.  Mercedes Wallace closed out our presentation with the question, "What will you do to carry this project into the future?"

Thanks to Katherine Docimo from Citizen Schools for all of her hard work putting together this event.  Also thanks to Microsoft and Cambridge Youth Programs.

Meet Morning Star aka Rawr.Wulf!

"Morning Star is an artist with tremendous talent and vision who often draws on the spirit animals for inspiration.  She is extremely aware, tuned in to emerging ideas and has a keen eye for detail that will continue to help her refine a style that is truly unique as time goes on." - Mars Jupiter

Find Morning Star's sounds at her page http://soundcloud.com/rawrwulf

You can also hear Morning Star's work as part of the BREATHE: Cambridge artist collective in our multimedia installation featuring sound art, poetry, painting and interactive self-expression. On display this summer @ CAC Gallery, City Hall Annex, 344 Broadway 2nd Floor Cambridge, MA

Celebrate the Summer Solstice with us on 6.21.11 from 6 - 8pm for our reception @ CAC Gallery!

Meet Susmit! (that rhymes!)

Being myself is my favorite thing to do.  My name is Susmit. I am an artist. I am not the perfect artist, but not being perfect is perfection to me. Detecting new discoveries and experimenting with new ideas is my life. This also gives my art its life. I wander around and play with my art, and that’s when unexpected things happen. I am playful and learn by playing. This gives me my sense of humor. I am eager to be excited by new and mysterious ideas. I ponder these ideas and buy my inspiration from them. Technology and art are my friends. The three of us roam around in the realm of imagination to make new creations. I’ve always loved listening to music, and have wanted to create it. However, I’ve never played any instruments or sang professionally. Breathe is my medium to get to that goal of mine and actually make my own original work.

Find Mercedes' sounds at his page http://soundcloud.com/spudasaini

You can also hear Susmit's work as part of the BREATHE: Cambridge artist collective in our multimedia installation featuring sound art, poetry, painting and interactive self-expression. On display this summer @ CAC Gallery, City Hall Annex, 344 Broadway 2nd Floor Cambridge, MA

Celebrate the Summer Solstice with us on 6.21.11 from 6 - 8pm for our reception @ CAC Gallery!

Meet Mercedes Wallace, editor-in-chief of this blog!

When I was little my dad had a song for everything. His music surrounded my every day. I would hear him sing along to songs from when I woke up in the morning to when I went to sleep at night. Now, music is like my best friend because it has always been there for me. For every mood of mine there is a song. And for every song there is a lyric that describes my life. My background has brought me to a job working with sound. It has helped me to make audio that inspires other as more than a person. I want people to relate to my work, like how music relates to my life. When one listens to my audio I want them to go outside of their body and block out everything to focus on their mind, as if they were a monster. I want people to feel like a beautiful monster, like me.
-Mercedes Wallace

Find Mercedes' sounds at her page http://soundcloud.com/mercedes-wallace

You can also hear Mercedes' work as part of the BREATHE: Cambridge artist collective in our multimedia installation featuring sound art, poetry, painting and interactive self-expression. On display this summer @ CAC Gallery, City Hall Annex, 344 Broadway 2nd Floor Cambridge, MA

Celebrate the Summer Solstice with us on 6.21.11 from 6 - 8pm for our reception @ CAC Gallery!

UNBK aka UnbrokenDan aka Wilgens Metelus!

One of the most important things about art to me is the process, but I won’t be satisfied until someone hears my work and tells me how it sounds to them.  I enjoy working in a group like when we creat a circle and do our sound cypher ritual.  Listening to music while I am working,  when I am in a bad mood,  or when I am sad creates more space in my head.  I find a paper and pencil to write and draw something about me at these times.   Art is something I really like, mostly drawing and creating things I never thought I could create. Right now my art is working on my breathe sound  poem.  I enjoy being  outside most of all because that’s where art is that’s where I get ideas to express art from mother nature.   

(((Wilgens received Cambridge's Teen Leadership Award 2011 this past weekend and will be continuing to record voices and sounds for the future of the BREATHE project on his trip to El Salvador this summer, along with his good friend and fellow BREATHE artist Cliff Boucicaut)))

Find Wilgens' sounds at his page http://soundcloud.com/unbrokendan93

You can also hear Wilgens' work as part of the BREATHE: Cambridge artist collective in our multimedia installation featuring sound art, poetry, painting and interactive self-expression. On display this summer @ CAC Gallery, City Hall Annex, 344 Broadway 2nd Floor Cambridge, MA

Celebrate the Summer Solstice with us on 6.21.11 from 6 - 8pm for our reception @ CAC Gallery!

Meet Brandi!

My name is Brandi Santiago. I love to sing. It’s one of my favorite things to do, but when I hear myself I don’t feel like it’s me singing. I feel awkward, but when I listen to one of my pieces I am proud to know that I have dedicated my hard work into the piece that came out amazing. I am confident in my work. I have no ifs, ands, or buts when it comes to deciding what I want in my piece. As the creator I don’t repeat my stuff but I do build on my successes. I might start on something soft then come out loud, you will never expect. I tend to keep things straight and realistic. Not all of my pieces will have the perfect type of style that everyone likes that’s why I like mixing up the beat. I don’t consider myself an artist, I think of myself more as a person. To me an artist more than a human they are larger than life, but I know that one day I will be an artist.


Find Brandi's sounds at her page http://soundcloud.com/brandi1245

You can also hear Brandi's work as part of the BREATHE: Cambridge artist collective in our multimedia installation featuring sound art, poetry, painting and interactive self-expression. On display this summer @ CAC Gallery, City Hall Annex, 344 Broadway 2nd Floor Cambridge, MA

Celebrate the Summer Solstice with us on 6.21.11 from 6 - 8pm for our reception @ CAC Gallery!

ducttapedheart aka Matilda

My name is Matilda Koegel Ostow. “Matilda” means mighty and powerful. These strengths are inside me, but I have yet to show these attributes to the fullest. I’m carefully biding my time. I am motivated by every beautiful word, phrase, image or story and am inspired by other’s lives to help this world. My might has not yet led me to the path where I can fix all that I want to, but I know that if I could I would make this earth & its people happy because when I’m happy I can do anything. My art rides on its own emotions; there is no perfectly structured plan as I work because I like it to unfold and form on its own. With this art project I want this community to hear our voices, his voices, her voices, their voices and realize that we are more connected than we’d ever dream. We are one and the only way we can succeed is together.

Find Matilda's sounds at her page http://soundcloud.com/ducttapedheart

You can also hear Matilda's work as part of the BREATHE: Cambridge artist collective in our multimedia installation featuring sound art, poetry, painting and interactive self-expression. On display this summer @ CAC Gallery, City Hall Annex, 344 Broadway 2nd Floor Cambridge, MA

Celebrate the Summer Solstice with us on 6.21.11 from 6 - 8pm for our reception @ CAC Gallery!

Meet Cliff, a Breathe: Cambridge artist extraordinaire.

I’m Cliff Boucicaut and I’m Haitian. Love, life, my family, my friends, and natural disaster all inspire me. They make me think about one word, writing. When I think I write.  Sometimes art make us sad, other time we laugh or smile. Voltaire, master of the French language, made me enjoy reading with his poems. His writing makes me want to improve my language and use words economically.  Haitian food, television, math, and my family are a big part of my life. Respirer, to breathe, is to take a break and listen to nature, to care about other people and not only yourself.

Find Cliff's sounds @ http://soundcloud.com/sweet-boy-cliff

You can also hear Cliff's work as part of the BREATHE: Cambridge artist collective in our multimedia installation featuring sound art, poetry, painting and interactive self-expression. On display this summer @ CAC Gallery, City Hall Annex, 344 Broadway 2nd Floor Cambridge, MA

Celebrate the Summer Solstice with us on 6.21.11 from 6 - 8pm for our reception @ CAC Gallery!

Meet Iona aka IonaX

 
Breathe:
Inhale-not like a rush of tasks and expectations,
nor too slow either; pace yourself, don’t get dizzy.
Exhale- verbal bile, anxiety, stress, the weight of the day.
Here, enclosed in my own little world I piece together my emotions letting them flow freely through the sounds and voices combined, creating audio representations of my mood and self. There are few, if any, words to describe a person truly. Sure there are accessible words and phrases that depict a person to others- “energetic, withdrawn, selfish, works well with others”- all relatively general. So it was a surprise to me when I discovered that I saw myself in my sound pieces. My creations, like Victor Frankenstein’s, are experiments that turned out to mirror myself more accurately than I have and would ever see myself. Some things I already knew about myself- quirky, somewhat repetitive, earthy, somewhat repetitive, and a little bit silly. The pieces also gave me a new spin on myself that I can’t put into words. Lend me your ear and I hope you’ll see me.
~Iona.

Hear Iona's sounds @ http://soundcloud.com/ionax

You can also hear Iona's work as part of the BREATHE: Cambridge artist collective in our multimedia installation featuring sound art, poetry, painting and interactive self-expression. On display this summer @ CAC Gallery, City Hall Annex, 344 Broadway 2nd Floor Cambridge, MA

Celebrate the Summer Solstice with us on 6.21.11 from 6 - 8pm for our reception @ CAC Gallery!

Re-Introducing Alex aka Aldaren_Syreth

Alex Sender aka Aldaren_Syreth
When I began working this position, I wasn’t certain as to how I would edit sound.  It seems as if I picked up my own style: logic.  From my experience in studying the technical world of computers, everything, from my vantage point, has some form of logic and reasoning, whatever that logic or reason may be.  In my music mixing experience, I have learned that I have a preference for fluidity and logic; were everything comes together and makes sense to the audience. 

Hear Alex's sounds @ http://soundcloud.com/aldaren_syreth

You can also hear Alex's work as part of the BREATHE: Cambridge artist collective in our multimedia installation featuring sound art, poetry, painting and interactive self-expression. On display this summer @ CAC Gallery, City Hall Annex, 344 Broadway 2nd Floor Cambridge, MA

Celebrate the Summer Solstice with us on 6.21.11 from 6 - 8pm for our reception @ CAC Gallery!

Dora aka theexploraa (Artist Bio)

Dora Cronin
Artist Biography

    Before this Breathe Project, I had never considered a sound scape as part of an art installation or as art, and to be honest, I never really found the idea of it appealing. To me, art was something you could see, like a painting, or a sculpture, but not something audio, which is ironic because I am a musician. Yes they both require a creative mind, and each are creating a piece for entertainment or inspiration. But audio pieces are a modern invention. The closest thing our ancestors had to a sound scape was music. Music is beautiful, soft, and natural, it takes you back to a more primitive part of you, deep within our soul that makes us feel a connection to the world around us. A sound scape, I thought, couldn’t be like that. It seemed so computerized, and technological, heavy and fake, nothing that I wanted to be a part of. Not me. It wasn’t until I joined this project and started to create my own audio piece, that I realized that my sound didn’t have to be sharp and futuristic, and in fact I could do something much more beautiful and powerful with my hour of audio that I could never have done with a paintbrush or pencil, I could tell a story. And that is just what I have tried to do, with my musical background and personal taste, in my piece. Every one has a story, and within 23 lines, we asked the people of Cambridge to share theirs.

Find Dora's sounds at her page http://soundcloud.com/theexploraa

You can also hear Dora's work as part of the BREATHE: Cambridge artist collective in our multimedia installation featuring sound art, poetry, painting and interactive self-expression. On display this summer @ CAC Gallery, City Hall Annex, 344 Broadway 2nd Floor Cambridge, MA

Celebrate the Summer Solstice with us on 6.21.11 from 6 - 8pm for our reception @ CAC Gallery!

We presented our project at Microsoft's NERD Center yesterday in Cambridge.  Now we're gearing up for our show @ CAC Gallery.  Check the flyer above and info below.  Join us for our opening 6.21.11 from 6 - 8pm!  It's gonna be super duper FRESH!

http://www2.cambridgema.gov/CAC/Exhibitions/current.cfm?minor