March 12, 2001

Twister, Stephen Vitiello's Video/Live Sound Performance To Be Presented At Ramapo College of New Jersey

(Mahwah) -- Sound and media artist Stephen Vitiello will present Twister, an experience in video and live sound, Wednesday, April 4 at 7 p.m. in the Adler Theater at Ramapo College of New Jersey. For this presentation, Vitiello excerpted three minutes of the movie Twister, transforming the clip into a mesmerizing 50-minute film, which he will accompany by his performance of ambient music and environmental sounds. Also on the program is a performance by Vitiello's wife, Tracy Leipold, of Fluxus artist Larry Miller's composition, "Sentinel," which mimics the sequence of sounds made by a car alarm.

Vitiello, who has collaborated with the world's best-known cutting-edge musicians, artists and choreographers, manipulates eclectic instruments and natural sounds to create improvised experimental electronica. His work has combined field recordings with digital processing to create slowly evolving, sonically-rich soundscapes. For example, the first track on his CD Light of Falling Cars is composed from manipulated sounds of a paper cutter.

In other works, Vitiello has sought to reveal sounds that, in a given space, are ambient or inaudible, sounds that might exist just beyond the reach of the listener. One example is his 1999 installation atop the World Trade Center, in which he placed contact microphones against the glass windows of a 91st-floor office to amplify exterior noises that were otherwise unheard but implied by the view. In addition, he has created new sound pieces generated in part from his collection of found Web-based sounds. Vitiello's additional recordings include Scratchy Marimba, Fantastic Prayers and Sounds Building in the Fading Light, among others.

This performance follows the opening reception for the exhibition Automedia in the Pascal and Kresge Galleries. Admission is free.

return to top