DJ Spooky is interviewed by PBS for the project Pioneers of African American Cinema
adminJanuary 23, 2017
By Paul D. Miller aka DJ Spooky
“To speak truly, few adult persons can see Nature.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nature
It’s been said that wilderness holds answers to questions we have not yet learned to ask. Here’s a question: How would you make a composition out of a forest? Would you have instruments made from wood? Well, that’s already been done for hundreds of years—every single instrument that influences our modern sensibility comes from wood or metal. But what about the information that forests generate? That’s what I thought about when I began work on a symphony about forests.
It’s been decades since Canadian composer R. Murray Schafer coined the term “soundscape” but for me, a 21st century update is the term “acoustic environment.” It’s an idea that informs my work, and that give me inspiration for a project that, at core,is as much about the collision between code and culture, as it is about the massive disruption of the ecosystem.
Article no longer available at National Geographic
adminNovember 11, 2016
PROJECT INFO HERE
EVENT INFO HERE
November 6, 4 p.m. – Enterprise, hosted by Fishtrap
November 9, 7 p.m. – Portland, hosted by World Forestry Center
Win tickets to the Portland event HERE
November 10, 7 p.m. – Newport, hosted by Newport Performing Arts Center
November 11, 6 p.m. – Bend, hosted by The High Desert Museum
DJ Spooky will mix live, recorded and electronic music with aerial video of Oregon forests, along with an on-stage conversation with a forest ecologist. The multimedia show is inspired by symphonic music Miller composed during four seasonal artist residencies at the H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest in the Oregon Cascades. The score, which was debuted and recorded with the Oregon State University Wind Ensemble earlier this year, metaphorically explores spring, summer, fall and winter through sound and imagery.
For the Heart of a Forest project, Miller wanted to understand “how to remix some of the ways we think about traditional forms of music versus digital interpretation of nature. Is the landscape a portrait? Is a composition a portrait? I think we need music to catalyze how we can rethink our relationship to nature.” Miller says that the piece is inspired by Thoreau and the collision of data, sound and new ways to think about the absence of origins.
adminNovember 4, 2016
Landmarks of early African-American film, remastered in HD from archive elements, digitally restored, loaded with bonus content. Created by Kino Lorber.
"This very special collection illuminates one of the most fascinating and unjustly neglected corners of American movie history." Martin Scorsese on Pioneers of African American cinema.
READ NEW YORKER FEATURE READ NY TIMES FEATURE
adminJuly 10, 2016
Photos from the Peace Boat Expedition.
adminNovember 10, 2014
A new book about Apps and the way they have changed everything! Featuring essays and articles by writers, artists, and theoreticians.
Anthology Edited By Paul D. Miller aka DJ Spooky and Svitlana Matviyenko
PURCHASE BOOK READ MOREadminOctober 8, 2014
Paul D. Miller aka DJ Spooky has been selected by The National Geographic Society as part of the 2014 class of Emerging Explorers, a group of 14 visionary, young trailblazers from around the globe whose innovative ideas and accomplishments are making a significant difference in the world.
adminJune 7, 2014
In celebration of it’s new magazine, Whole Foods asked DJ Spooky to share his thoughts on contemporary art, design, and if course, music.
adminMay 8, 2014
