WAVE CROSSINGS is Liz Phillip’s sound and site-specific installation that explores the NY Harbor to reveal waves and life under and above the water’s surface. The New York Harbor is at the mouth of the Hudson River where it empties into New York Bay and into the Atlantic Ocean. Governor’s island is a space for exploring the convergence of these bodies of water. The audience/participants explore, creating patterns that amplify and reinforce the sonic architecture of the island in Building 7a.
May 26 – July 23 2017
Fri. Sat. Sun and Holiday Mondays noon – 5 pm
Experience Lab 3 pm June 24th and July 22
Nolan Park Building 7a
Governors Island New York Ferry Schedule
WAVE CROSSINGS is Liz Phillips’ sound and site-specific installation construct that explores the NY Harbor to reveal waves and life under and above the water’s surface. New York Harbor is at the mouth of the Hudson River where it empties into New York Bay and into the Atlantic Ocean. Governor’s island is a space for exploring the convergence of these bodies of water. The audience/participants explore, creating patterns that amplify and reinforce the sonic architecture of the island. Multi-channel simultaneous recordings from the waters around the Island create the sound and signal material for the installation in Building 7a . Movement of audience and environment is sensed using telemetry systems to create an ever-changing dynamic water and soundscape. Many physical filters (sound speaker objects) and a live listening program create the dynamic for this installation
BIO
New York-based artist Liz Phillips has been making interactive multi-media installations for the past 40 years, which combine audio and visual art forms with new technologies to create an interactive sound experience. Born in New Jersey in 1951, Phillips received a B.A from Bennington College in 1973. In 1981, she co-founded Parabola Arts Foundation, a not-for-profit organization, with five media artists from varied disciplines to provide funding for art projects. Phillips has made and exhibited her installations at numerous art museums, alternative spaces, festivals, and public spaces. These include The Whitney Museum of American Art, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Spoleto Festival USA, the Walker Art Museum, Ars Electronica, Jacob’s Pillow, The Kitchen, and Creative Time, Stedelijk Museum, Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, Rene Block Gallery, Fredrieke Taylor Gallery, among others. Phillips has also collaborated with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, and her work was presented by the Cleveland Orchestra, IBM Japan, and the World Financial Center. She received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1987 to create Graphite Ground. Wave Crossings received a commission from NYC State Council on the Arts through Harvestworks and further funding from the David Bermant Foundation through Parabola Art Foundation.
Press Quotes
By adjusting the sound events to the random gestures of people in the space, she challenged this idea of fixed points of adaptation. The smallest motion by anyone in the space could stimulate an acoustic response. But there was no apparent pattern of cause and effect. By making the volume of air in the gallery the site of both molecular and large-scale activity, Phillips presented the idea of space not as something left over, but as the dynamic situation for perception.
—Patricia Phillips in Artforum
Liz Phillips is a pioneer in the development of electronic sound and environmental art. Her sound practice encompasses interactive sculpture and interactive installation with occasional excursions into performance and dance. Phillips’ works point toward a non-musical emergence for creative circuitry in art of the 1960s and 1970s, and specifically illustrate the interaction of homemade electronics with environmental practices.
—Charles Eppley on Avant.org
It’s a real psychedelic mind-bender and when it comes to satiating ears, New York-based sound installation artist Liz Phillips is the Julia Child of avant-garde musicians.
—Sean Yeaton in Popular Science
Social Media
http://lizphillipsgovsisland.blogspot.com/
https://www.facebook.com/liz.phillips2
Collaborators
Harvestworks
Billion Oyster Project
NY Harbor School
Interviews and Press Coverage
http://avant.org/artifact/liz-phillips/
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/liz-phillips–2
https://vimeo.com/user7559753/videos