[May 8 – Aug 8] Audio Chandelier: Polyélaios

AUDIO CHANDELIER: POLYÉLAIOS, is a new multi-channel audio speaker sculpture by Dafna Naphtali [sound artist] in collaboration with metalsmith/designer Ayala Naphtali.  

Individual “grains” of sound are dispersed via the speaker sculpture in an immersive sonic experience– undulating audio “pixels” illuminate and refract moments in time, eliciting reminiscent soundscapes, environmental / electronic fields of crickets, flowing brooks, rain-rhythms, bird song and unruly percussion. A multitude of isolated sounds form a new sonic whole, ranging from turbulence to stillness and Xenakis-inspired hyper-electronics refraction of sound.

Location: The Workings of Media [art and artists] at the Harvestworks Art and Technology House

May 8th – August 8th, 2021: Building 10a, Nolan Park, Governors Island

Open to the public on weekends – Saturday and Sunday 11 am to 5 pm. Ticketed Entrance. 

Dafna Naphtali’s Audio Chandelier multi-channel sound projects have been presented in the US and abroad since 2010 as fixed media, solo interactive performances, and ensemble pieces for laptop orchestra and smartphones, in events in Berlin (Urban Solar Audio Plant & Orbanism festival), Miami (Audiothéque), Montreal (SATosphere 32-channel dome), Prague (FAMU Film and TV Academy), California (CCRMA/Stanford), by the Princeton Laptop Orchestra (PLOrK), and Dafna Naphtali’s own students and solo performances around NYC including CT::SWaM.

Audio Chandelier: Polyelaios Installation of Governors Island

This new interactive installation was created during Dafna’s 2019 artist residency at Harvestworks Digital Media Arts, and continued work during summer 2020 when the show on Governors Island was postponed due to Covid-19.  It is also a first-time collaboration with master metalsmith/designer Ayala Naphtali.  Ayala, who brings expertise from her design practice of many decades, works with natural materials, vibrant colors and inspirations from mid-century modern design. Her designs for Audio Chandelier create subtle kinetic and mechanical movement inspired by Ayala’s silversmith and metal work designs.(ayalajewelry.com) and that deeply  correlates with Dafna’s own fascination with sound color (timbre) and kinetic movement.  

Dafna performing Audio Chandelier in Montreal 2017. Photo by Sebastien Roy 2017

In Audio Chandelier: Polyélaios, Dafna and Ayala Naphtali, bring together their influences and background as born-and-raised New Yorkers and sisters. Dafna is informed by her practice as an electronic musician with a life-long habit of listening to birds, rural and urban soundscapes going back to the extreme backpacking trips they took with their parents.  Ayala has a long interest in natural materials and physicality of objects since she was a teenager, taking jewelry classes at the Metropolitan Museum. Their modern dancer/sociologist mother and engineer father took them on weekly visits to MoMA, giving them very young memories of Calder, Cubism, Surrealists, and early exposure to modern jazz dance and electronic computer music. Dafna and Ayala Naphtali share an origin story that has deeply influenced their individual and collaborative work.

Photo courtesy of the artist

About the Artists

Dafna Naphtali is a sound-artist, electronic-musician composer/performer and singer. She creates works for multi-channel audio, musical robots, and interactive soundwalks, drawing on her eclectic musical background (jazz, rock, gospel, contemporary classical, experimental improvisation) in work with musicians and video artists in the US and abroad. Projects and recordings include “Landmine” an interactive work for pianist Kathleen Supové on Disklavier piano with live processing on “Ear to Ivory” (Starkland 2019), as well as “What is it Like to be a Bat?” digital punk trio w/Kitty Brazelton (Tzadik), “Pulsing Dot” duo with Gordon Beeferman and “We Q” with Austrian saxophonist Edith Lettner (both on Clang label), “Microcosmopolitan” with Chatter Blip duo (with Chuck Bettis, on Contour Editions). Her upcoming release “Fusebox” with saxophonist Ras Moshe Burnett will be released on Gold Bolus May 2021. Dafna’s audio-augmented reality soundwalks (free iOS/Android apps for U-GRUVE AR and running continuously), include Walkie Talkie Dream Garden (http:// walkietalkiedreams.org) at the Williamsburg Waterfront (Brooklyn, NY) and Walkie Talkie Dream Angles at Washington Square Park (NYC). She’s authored two book chapters on her work and articles on “Live Sound Processing and Improvisation” for New Music Box. Dafna was a 2019 Artist-in-Residence at Harvestworks Digital Media Arts for a new multichannel work for her “Audio Chandelier” series. After pandemic-related postponements in 2020, she will realizes the new work in collaboration with metalsmith Ayala Naphtali May-July 2021 on Governors Island.

Metalsmith and Jewelry designer Ayala Naphtali draws inspiration from ancient alphanumeric systems, contemporary architecture and her own personal, cultural history. She is intrigued with balance and proportion and feels that each of her pieces must find its axis on the body. She creates work with elegance and minimal, bold forms, precious metals and alternative materials.  Her work is an exploration of form and materials  and feels as if each piece must find its axis on the wearer. She feels firmly rooted in the historical tradition of her craft. Ayala is committed to the use of materials, for their color texture and versatility. Ayala Naphtali studied Gold and Silversmithing at FIT and SUNY NEW PALTZ (BFA in ’85), but first started making jewelry in her early teens. She her award-winning work has been exhibited nationally and internationally in galleries and museums, has been collected privately, and by major museums including the Cooper Hewitt and Kunsindustriumuseum in Norway, and The White House permanent collection. Ayala exhibits in major nationally juries craft shows including American Craft Exposition in Baltimore, SOFA show (Chicago) and local NY area venues. Selected publications include American Craft Magazine, ELLE, The Fashions of The Times, The New York Times, Mademoiselle, Women’s Wear Daily, Glamour, and New Women Magazine. Ayala has been a juror for The American Craft Council Craft Shows. 

Websites and Social Media


https://dafna.info/

https://www.ayalajewelry.com/
www.audiochandelier.com

https://dafna.info/multi-channel-sound/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/audiochandelier/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AudioChandelier

Collaborator(s)

Ayala Naphtali – metalsmith / designer

Interviews and Press Coverage

Interview of Dafna Naphtali by Daniel Neumann / Lee Gilboa, of CT::SWaM regarding Audio Chandelier

Harvey at Harvey podcast

Cycling ’74

Interview with Ayala Naphtali

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