Kai Luen Liang

MFA 2 - Music

Flag ASMR

“On Sept 11th, 2001 I watched the twin towers falling with my father. Glued to the TV. A silent demolition. An American reality TV show. In the weeks that followed, I started to see American flags everywhere. Especially from immigrants of all colors, flying the flag out of a sense of fear of appearing to be on the wrong side.

The sound of the twin towers falling in my memory is silent. Filmed from far away. As the second plane hit, there was no sound on TV. I heard the sound via the sound of my own heart beating and the breath of the newscaster trying to be as professional as possible as they had to report a major catastrophe in real time, live in front of the world.

Flag ASMR is the attempt to recall a memory. An attempt to close a schism caused by a fear of the lines people cross and the fears of uncertainty, harm, and danger. What is the sound of a silent memory. The sound of it being touched, taken apart, and reordered.”

Redefining Boundaries

Building new systems, setting new parameters. Boundaries are constantly defined and redefined. An experiment in generative systems, generative image/ film and sound relationships. Exploring mutual relationships/ co-habitations of sonic and visual digital spaces.

Manufacturing Landscapes

*** warning: Contains strong flashing lights….

Manufacturing Landscapes:

A short film investigating the metaphors of vision used in surveillance hardware brand videos. Uses various Generative Adversarial Networks(GAN)/ machine learning image synthesis techniques to generate material related to vision and changing landscapes. Also looks at word associations with images by using text descriptions to generate images. The images generated were then used as “found footage” for the film.

Lorelei Acuna

Indigarb Fast fashion is the world’s second largest polluter, emitting 10% of all carbon emissions and is dumped into lands and oceans all over the world. In Our compilation of video and photography come together to evoke empathetic response in our viewers. By seeing humans absorbed in plastic, we mirror the way our Earth and […]

Roger Holzberg

LIFE QUILT “Created by the Healthcare by Design class of 2020 (CalArts Theater School), in partnership with Henry Mayo hospital. LIFE QUILT is a part of a larger pilot program developed for patients & families approaching end of life. Each panel is an active, creative experience, designed to reduce anxiety, connect family members in support, […]

Carl Burgin

Kai-Luen Liang Tomorrow There Will Be Wind ( Automatic Windchimes ) A performance of playing an Arduino controlled set of wind chimes. Vibration motors are activated through a motor driver creating divisions and polyrhythms based on various “states.” First iteration prototype with beer bottle activation.   Trevor Bock 4-Note Bottle Blowing Instrument I have always […]

Sven Golden

Blake The Sorcerer Blake The Sorcerer is a recently released album of original piano solo pieces with different moods and subjects Fortune Freeway –

Roger Kim

Elements Elements is an interactive web-based installation that uses the classical Chinese idea of five elements (火 fire, 水 water, 木 wood, 金 metal, and 土 earth) to explore perspectives that contradict and coexist at the same time. Visitors to the web-page will be able to manipulate elements (as represented by Chinese characters), and see […]

John Tejada

Future Stars class compilation album John Tejada, a frequent guest on Touched Music compilations, hatched the idea of turning the final project for his CalArts “Advanced Electronic Music Production” class into a compilation album for the established label. John Tejada Presents Future Stars features 15 of Tejada’s students at their best, as well as an […]

Joana P. Cardozo

The Naked Hours For 100 hours, I cut 2 x 2 inches black paper with scissors and covered the L-Shape Gallery walls at the California Institute of the Arts. I did not speak. I did not use a cell phone or other electronics. I ate, rested, wrote, and meditated as necessary. I left the gallery […]