Tom Zear has been experimenting with sound since joining and starting punk rocks bands in High School. His first combo piece, ‘Chamber Of Dementia,’ started as an installation so the viewers could interact and produce sound themselves. He went on to amplify guitar pickups mounted to sheet metal and run it into pedals like loops and delays. He has preformed and/or had his work installed at CSUF, undergrounds, galleries and street scenes.
Wolf Gowin was born in Germany; studied art history, philosophy, and medicine. He lived and worked in Germany, USA, and Australia. He exhibited his sculptures extensively in Europe, Americas, and Australia, won numerous art prices. Published creative as well as scientific manuscripts. He is also known as a soundmaker using his own sculptures as instruments. He resides in Temecula, CA.
Tom Zear has been participated in two previous SoundWalks. Previous sound works of Wolf Gowin together with Tom Zear were performed in LA County and Orange County in 1993 and 1994.
Although it would be appropriate for 2013 to propose for a sound art event the artistic interchange of the sound coming from a broad-chested steam locomotive opposing the hiss of speeding electrons heard in the bowels of a Japanese fast-train engine, of course both positioned in a train station and manipulated by artists, the location of Long Beach seems to prevent it; at least for now. – Imagine the delight! Exactly hundred years have passed since one of the most influential texts in 20th musical aesthetics had been written by the Italian Luigi Russolo in form of a letter to another Futurist, Francesco Pratella. This text became later known as L’arte dei Rumori when it was published as a small book in 1916. The translation is much more recognized in today’s world as “The Art of Noises”. Russolo stated that noise came into existence as the result of 19th the wide array of noises. In June 1913, he gave the first concert in noisy music. All the instruments, so called intonarumori, were manufactured by him.
All this happened before Dada was born 1915 in Switzerland introducing noise-making nonsense machines. And, it was long before the first serious digital music concert was given in 1924.
Therefore, Tom Zear and Wolf Gowin, want to keep that tradition of genuine noise-making devises. We propose a performance of noise-making by using two electrical machines. The motors have different sound, timbres as well as pitches. They will be switched on and off as if they would talk to each other. In addition, both sounds will go through an artistic manipulation process involving loops and echoes. – It will appear as if the artists are musicians from a future century where the instruments do not resemble our now common music making instruments.
Machine Talk is an improvisational performance played with amplified power tools. The sounds from these machines interact with each other, similar to a friendly conversation or a heated debate.