THOMAS DEXTER

STUDIO PERFORMANCE (2014)

Triple 16mm projection with beam-splitting glass

SQUARE/GETS/THE/CIRCLE @ BALAGAN SCREENING SERIES (2013)

Documentation from an expanded cinema performance

"Square" involves mixing live direct animation on 16mm film with pre-composed footage and opto-electronic sound synthesis (light to sound). Performed as a triple 16mm projection, I was interested in creating a formal narrative beginning with illusion and ending with blunt materiality (the direct manipulation and destruction of the film's surface).

SQUARE/GETS/THE/CIRCLE @ SIGHT/UNSEEN (2013)

Documentation from an expanded cinema performance

SQUARE/GETS/THE/CIRCLE @ SIGHT/UNSEEN (2013)

Documentation from an expanded cinema performance

ACTION/FILM @ THE INVISIBLE DOG (2012)

Documentation from an evolving performance that uses direct animation on 16mm film-leader, light-to-sound synthesis, and the destruction of the film itself.

Action/Film uses a vocuablary of direct animation gestures on the film's surface (drawing, etching, scratching) unfolding in real-time on 2 or 3 simultaneous loops. The sound is generated through custom transducers sampling directly off of the screen.

ACTION/FILM @MICROSCOPE GALLERY (2012)

ACTION/FILM @ THE ANARCHIST ART FESTIVAL (2012)

ACTION/FILM (2011)

IMAGES (2006 - 2013)

Photo documentation from selected performances in NYC.

RUIN II (2014)

30min looping HD (excerpt)

16mm "scratch" film digitized and reanimated in a continuous loop.

RUIN I (2012)

DRIFT 18HZ (2014)

Triple 16mm projection, modified shutters, film leader

UNTITLED (2014)

Triple 16mm projection, modified shutters, acrylic dye on film leader

UNTITLED (2014)

Film leader, pins

UNTITLED (2011)

6min ink on 16mm film leader and optoelectronic sound transferred to HD (excerpt)

DRAWING ON FILM (2009)

Film process-drawings made, exhibited, and discarded over the course of a gallery show. The drawings are made on a simple apparatus suggesting a loom. The process is transparent and the results are immediate.

FILM STILL (2010)

Installation. Ink on film leader, copper tubing, rewind hardware, spools.

The film's original function is apparent but inaccessible..

DARK DETECTION - (2009)

7min rephotographed Super 8 film, sound, electronics.

A modified "darkness alarm" circuit sonifies areas of moving shadow.

SPIN CYCLE: HORIZON II (2012)

Looping single channel HD video and sound.

A powerdrill mounted HD camera flattens and warps space as it approaches its representational and mechanical limits. All visual effects and sounds were derived from the camera apparatus itself.

SPIN CYCLE: HORIZON IV (2012)

SPIN CYCLE: HORIZON I (2011)

SPIN CYCLE: HORIZON III (2012)

OPTICKS I: BLINDED (2014)

11min looping single channel HD video and sound.

The first in a series of video works inspired by Newton's early scientific investigations into the nature of light and visual perception (sometimes involving direct and dangerous self-experimentation)

Isaac Newton - in an undated letter to John Locke

The manner was this. I looked a very little while upon ye sun in a looking­glass wth my right eye & then turned my eyes into a dark corner of my chamber & winked to observe the impression made & the circles of colours wch encompassed it & how they decayed by degrees & at last vanished. in a few hours time I had brought my eys to such a pass that I could look upon no bright object with either eye but I saw ye sun before me, so that I durst neither write nor read but to recover ye use of my eyes shut myself up in my chamber made dark for three days together & used all means to divert my imagination from ye Sun.

But now I have been very well for many years, tho I am apt to think that if I durst venture my eyes I could still make ye phantasm return by the power of my fansy.

Using the destruction of the camera as allegory, Opticks (I) explores the inter­dependance of the external world and the sensory medium.

GRAVITY (2014)

5min looping 2 channel HD video and sound (excerpt)

XLVII (2014)

4 hour looping single channel HD video (excerpt)

III (2014)

4 hour looping single channel HD video (excerpt)

INVISIBLE (2014)

90sec HD video and sound

"Avant-garde" commercial for speculative design project.

in collaboration with Heather Dewey-Hagborg

STRIATED FIELDS I (2006)

VHS tape transfered to HD. 5min looping.

SAISFACTION IS DEFERRED (2011)

Intro and verse of pop song time-stretched at a ratio of 1:33. 4 hours (excerpt)

FUTURE ARCHAEOLOGY: OHM IV (2013)

A site-specific performance environment harnessing the conductive / resistive properties of the human body to create an evolving soundscape. Premiered at SIGHT + SOUND festival 2013

FUTURE ARCHAEOLOGY: OHM (2010)

Exploring the conductive / resistive properties of graphite and the human hand, OHM transforms the Splaterpool gallery walls into interactive sonic drawings. Part of the Dead of Winter series, curated by Maria Chavez. See the full event documentary HERE

OHM II (2011)

Performance documentation. Crowd interaction is harnessed into a large-scale "human sound circuit."

DRAWING STUDY FOR "OHM"

Sound circuit drawing exercise.

With Heather Dewey-Hagborg.

OPEN CIRCUIT (2010)

Interactive sonic architecture and performance @ PS1 MOMA.

in collaboration with Heather Dewey-Hagborg and Matt Radune.

Performances by Maria Chavez & Shelley Burgon.

HYDROPHONY (2010-2011)

Chance compositions comprised of underwater recordings taken from the East and Hudson rivers. Hydrophony brings unheard acoustic worlds to the surface - allowing the listener to experience familiar sites of recreation, travel, and industry in a new and intimate way. External site

With Heather Dewey-Hagborg.

LIVE @ ROULETTE NYC (2007)

Audio/visual duets with Maria Chavez exploring memory and interpretation.

FUTURE ARCHAEOLOGY

Collected installations and performances 2008 - 2011. External link: www.futurearchaeology.org

In collaboration with Heather Dewey-Hagborg, Ellie Irons, Dan Phiffer and Matt Radune.