Francisco López, Hyper-Rainforest

Why can't you see in outer space and why can't you hear in a rainforest? A conversation, with sound illustrations, with the composer and sound artist Francisco López in advance of his performance at EMPAC in Troy, New York on April 28, 29, 30, 2011. Touching on his past and future creations and experiments including a 2001 work for the now inaccessible Brooklyn Bridge Anchorage interior and even a recording of our Clocktower clockworks. Plus a a profile of his remarkable new project, SONM (Sound Archive of Experimental Music and Sound Art), in Murcia, Spain.

About the EMPAC project: Hyper-Rainforest is a monumental sound piece (90 speakers and 64 channels in two nested hemispheres of integrated speakers). All music in this performance stems from field recordings—but it does not simulate the natural reality of the original locations. Instead, the work creates a sonic hyper-reality, a virtual world of sound and music that goes beyond a trip to a rainforest. The original materials are observed, analyzed, and composed to create a piece that surrounds the audience, moving deep into the sounds themselves and toward new sounds still rooted in their origins. This world premiere, was commissioned by and developed in residence at EMPAC (The Curtis R. Priem Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center, a part of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute). The curator is Micah Silver.

Excerpts heard in this segment are from Lopez pieces: KRMN FL, Buildings (New York), Fango de Euripteridos, Untitled #244, A Tasty Swarm of Small Signals #252, and 300 Tapes.

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