Phill Niblock, No Fancy Name
Composer and filmmaker Phill Niblock constructs work that genuinely dominates space and time like few other artists. Niblock’s compositions are characterized by multi-track instrumental recordings with multiple tones sounding simultaneously for long stretches, creating a very dense and active textures of combination and interference tones. The durational sound pieces are usually accompanied by his remarkable films and videos which feature repetitive activities shot in workplaces around the world. For his Auditorium presentation he also showed collaborative work with video artist Katherine Liberovskaya.
Niblock has worked as the director of the Experimental Intermedia Foundation in New York since 1985, which he participated in as an artist/member since 1968. He has produced music and Intermedia presentations at EI since 1973, and is the curator of EI's XI Records label. He has collaborated with a wide range of musicians including David Gibson, in the cello works of the 1970s; Petr Kotik, Susan Stenger, and Eberhard Blum, on Four Full Flutes; Rafael Toral, David First, Lee Ranaldo, Thurston Moore, Susan Stenger, and Robert Poss on Guitar Too, for Four (G2,44+1x2) and many others. His first musical compositions date from 1968. Unusually, even among the avant-garde composers of his generation, he has no formal musical training. His compositions are worked out intuitively rather than systematically, and he cites the musical activities of New York in the 1960s as a stimulus.
Recorded live during AUDITORIUM, an extended evening of site-specific electronic and electroacoustic performances organized by artists/curators Lea Bertucci and Tristan Shepherd and co-presented by Clocktower and Knockdown Center on April 12, 2015. The focal point for the event was a custom-installed 10-channel sound system hung throughout Knockdown Center's cathedral-like space . The project commissioned new works from composers, instrumentalists, and audio artists to develop works uniquely suited to the site.
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Clocktower Exhibits & Events is home to an archive of interviews with artists, curators, musicians, organizers, and more who have participated in Clocktower exhibitions and events throughout our organization’s history.
Many of the below recordings were documented while Clocktower was in the midst of a transformation. The original name, The Clocktower Gallery, was given to the exhibition, residency, and performance space in TriBeCa, founded by alternative spaces movement pioneer Alanna Heiss in 1972. After 2001, the Clocktower Gallery re-inaugurated its exhibition programming in 2005 as part of MoMA/PS1 and, after 2008, under the auspices of Art International Radio. In 2013, we moved on from our downtown Manhattan location, and have since renamed the organization Clocktower Productions, a title which encompasses our radio, exhibition, and event programming.
For more Clocktower history, listen to The Clocktower Oral History Project, in which such figures as Vito Acconci, Bill Beirne, Colette, Jeffrey Deitch, Mary Heilmann, Jene Highstein, Ann Magnuson, Richard Nonas and Joel Shapiro reflect upon their experiences with this unique New York space. Organized by artist Nancy Hwang for the Fall 2009 AVANT-GUIDE TO NYC: Discovering Absence exhibition at apexart.
NB: Clocktower Radio was launched by MoMA/PS1 in 2004 as the Web's first art radio station. It has been independent since 2009 and is licensed to host content created under PS1 management. Programs produced prior to 2011 may refer to our earlier URLs and station IDs, including WPS1.org, artonair.org, and Art International Radio. For the complete history of Clocktower Radio, read our Mission & History section.
more Many of the below recordings were documented while Clocktower was in the midst of a transformation. The original name, The Clocktower Gallery, was given to the exhibition, residency, and performance space in TriBeCa, founded by alternative spaces movement pioneer Alanna Heiss in 1972. After 2001, the Clocktower Gallery re-inaugurated its exhibition programming in 2005 as part of MoMA/PS1 and, after 2008, under the auspices of Art International Radio. In 2013, we moved on from our downtown Manhattan location, and have since renamed the organization Clocktower Productions, a title which encompasses our radio, exhibition, and event programming.
For more Clocktower history, listen to The Clocktower Oral History Project, in which such figures as Vito Acconci, Bill Beirne, Colette, Jeffrey Deitch, Mary Heilmann, Jene Highstein, Ann Magnuson, Richard Nonas and Joel Shapiro reflect upon their experiences with this unique New York space. Organized by artist Nancy Hwang for the Fall 2009 AVANT-GUIDE TO NYC: Discovering Absence exhibition at apexart.
NB: Clocktower Radio was launched by MoMA/PS1 in 2004 as the Web's first art radio station. It has been independent since 2009 and is licensed to host content created under PS1 management. Programs produced prior to 2011 may refer to our earlier URLs and station IDs, including WPS1.org, artonair.org, and Art International Radio. For the complete history of Clocktower Radio, read our Mission & History section.
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A series highlighting lectures and presentations on social and cultural issues produced by Knockdown Center, and made available here in partnership with Clocktower Radio.
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