Digging into the Process Behind FREQUENCIES
The FREQUENCIES Team, L-R: Ben (projectionist & tech assistant), Allison, Jane (installation/production manager), Maria
We are entering that part of the year that straddles seasons and the feelings that come with them. Schools are starting back up, yet the weather remains hot and humid. We are clinging to the fleeting days of carefree summer, yet the stores are already stocking Halloween candy and pumpkin-spiced everything. We are also entering another season of uncertainty, yet again; global current events and public health issues abound as we wonder what the next few months may bring.
It’s times like these where we need to step back and remember to focus on things like self care and enjoying the beauty around us. As we enter a new age of anxiety, the MF Dynamics team is gearing up to bring some much needed joyful ambiance to the Harvard Ed Portal this Fall.
Announcing FREQUENCIES, a crowdsourced audio/visual mural that features the sounds and sights of Allston-Brighton, straight from the people who live, work, and play in this vibrant Boston neighborhood. Maria is collaborating with visual artist, Allison Tanenhaus on this nightly pulsating performance that will run from November 2021 - February 2022.
Maria and Allison first met at the Harvard Ed Portal in 2018, and have been self-proclaimed fangirls of each other’s work ever since through their respective social media pages. When the pandemic started, they reconnected in order to find ways to create digital works. They created funky music videos and posted them on instagram. These collaborative videos, as well as their mutual attraction to experimentation with raw materials, acted as inspiration for FREQUENCIES.
So how exactly does the process work? Here is a step-by-step look into how Maria and Allison will be putting FREQUENCIES together:
STEP 1: Capture and Submit your videos! Allston-Brighton residents and passersby are encouraged to take videos of their surroundings. What does it sound, look, and feel like? Get creative, but don’t stress! We are looking for videos of literally anything in Allston-Brighton, from an old graffiti-d mailbox, to crunching leaves, to the sound of two neighbors gabbing on the sidewalk, to even a wild turkey roaming in your backyard!
STEP 2: Maria works her *~musical magic~* by remixing the submitted media into soundtrack music videos, manipulating the pitch of the captured sounds into a melody, mashing up rhythms and patterns into beats, and adding other instruments and textures. She’ll then send the remix to Allison for step 3.
STEP 3: Allison finalizes the music video by adding her *~magical glitch art~*, synthesizing Maria’s original sounds, the authenticity of Allston-Brighton, and her own palette of kaleidoscopic colors and patterns. The final audio/visual mural to be projected onto Harvard Ed Portal’s gallery windows, depicting a joyful alternate universe-like reflection of Allston-Brighton.
Participants have until DECEMBER 15 to get their submissions in to be considered for the first round showing November-December! Big thanks to the Harvard Ed Portal for commissioning this presentation of the project, and to the support from the City of Boston’s Transformative Pubic Art Grant and LuminArtz.
Blog by NOMI
