BEN SHIRKEN / EX WIISH

Container, an exhibition curated by Imogen Brent and Briana Griffin, presented a group of artists united by a unique interest in technology, interpreting the rapidly changing set of tools that govern our material constraints. Enveloped by the networked systems that surround us, the work presented in Container foregrounded the presence of the artist’s hand; tending to and caring for the residual objects left behind in the wake of our increasingly dislocating digital world.

For the group show, Ben Shirken and Dorothy Carlos presented an environmental sound installation entitled "Scattered Cipher". This intimate, generative piece was crafted specifically for the space using a combination of Max/MSP, Modular Synthesis, and the complex soundscapes of the two artists. Cello and noise loops of varying lengths were loaded onto three individual modular samplers, the first a stereo sampler with 4 total loops, and the second and third mono samplers with 5 and 6 loops respectively. Played together simultaneously, the loops' completion triggered the individual samplers to select the next loops in sequence. The audio was then processed using spatial and temporal audio effects in Max MSP [Envelop for Live] to generate spatiality on a quadrophonic system.