DE VREE, DEWI & JEROEN UYTTENDAELE - Ground

Limited hand-numbered edition of 300. NTSC region-free DVD with 60-page paperback book (290mm x 220mm). Ground is an audiovisual performance in which Dewi de Vree and Jeroen Uyttendaele use graphite drawings as a control interface for several electronic instruments, thus rendering the acoustic tactile. Fascinated by ways of rematerializing an increasingly dematerialized and idealized world, they produce work that can be seen as an attempt to approach electronic music in a more intuitive, engaging manner. Using graphite, a material that conducts electricity and is used in everyday variable resistors, they compose drawings that figure as the interface that controls the volume, pitch, and amplitude of the piece. As the drawn lines stretch, intersect, or encounter foreign conductive elements -- such as the hand -- the sound is either modulated or becomes warped. The result is a performance that blends senses together or juxtaposes them, as it creates tension between the unpredictable, aleatory qualities of the graphite and the order of lines that the performers impose upon it, forming the rudimentary score of the piece. The Ground book collects 51 of these graphite drawings, presented with text by Hicham Khalidi, and is accompanied by DVD containing a video recording of Ground performed live by the artists at Studio Loos in The Hague, Netherlands, in July 2014. Jeroen Uyttendaele (born 1981) is an artist interested in sound as a sculptural element and in its relation to light, space, time, and the audience. This manifests as the development of audiovisual instruments, installations, and sound compositions. His works often exploit basic properties of technology, such as conductivity, as tools for expression. Dewi de Vree (born 1983) is a multimedia artist based in The Hague who deals with the sensual experience of physical experiments. Building upon her background in the visual arts and her fascination with the interaction between man and machine, she makes translation machines, sound interfaces, performances, and installations. Examples of her work include works based on the physicality of electricity, electrochemistry, thermodynamics, and electromagnetism. She is involved in the Villa K experimental music venue in The Hague, the Instrument Inventors Initiative (iii), and Proefjeslab, an interactive science show for children created with Arno Verweij. Ground is a co-production of iii and audioMER. made possible by the support of the Creative Industries Fund NL. Camera operated by Takeuchi Toshi. Sound by Matteo Marangoni. Edited by Matteo Marangoni and Jeroen Uyttendaele. - audioMER.