Sonata for Dance, Cello and Algorithm

“Studies in movement and sound are integral to the XDEA design approach. Architecture is alive with movement. People, light, air and sound air move through buildings, activating spaces and experiences. Performance studies with Jody Sperling bring me closer to understanding the relationship between objects and space, motion and stillness and the rigors of human and structural form.”

– N. Scott Johnson

“As part of a shared program presenting works by four different choreographers, Jody Sperling collaborates with cellist/architect Scott Johnson and algorithm/projection designer Sergey Pigach for a new performance project entitled “Sound Study.” The three began their collaboration during an Impact Artist Residency sponsored by Human Impacts Institute in fall 2017. The trio investigates the atmospheric vibrations of the performance space. Sperling reformulates her Loie Fuller “apparatus” as a sonic instrument to shape rhythms of whipping wind. Johnson deconstructs the cello’s capabilities, exploring its percussive qualities and breath-like dimensions to play off of Sperling’s sounds and movements. Pigach developed an algorithm that responds in real-time to the sounds generated by dancer and cellist with light-and-image projections.”– Jody Sperling, Time Lapse Dance

 

Barnard College Dance Department, Barnard Hall, NYC May 2018

Mr. Johnson’s collaborations with dancer choreographer Jody Sperling, a Loie Fuller interpreter and founder of Time Lapse Dance pushes the limits of their ‘instruments’ with a sonically responsive algorithm that projects light in Sonata for Dance, Cello and Algorithm, playing with the subtle spectrum of sound in their performance. In his work, Mr. Johnson brings the concepts of breath, harmonics and the sound of the cello to activate the vast space between the 12 traditional tones.

Rehearsal with Jody Sperling

Soaking WET Performance, West End Theater NYC, February 2018