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ARCH 300 400 / PIP
THIRD FOURTH YEAR / VERTICAL
MAJOR CONTRIBUTORS
Michael Oatman Ted Krueger
In the late 1990s acoustician J J Christopher Jaffe (RPI class of ’49) had a a a a a a a a a vision for a a a a a a a a a course that would create collaborations between internationally renowned performance artists School of Architecture students students and and students students from the School of Humanities Arts and and Social Sciences Harnessing RPI’s interdisciplinary energy the Production Installation Performance (PIP) studio ran for several years and and featured collaborators as as as diverse as as as the the political artist Antoni Muntadas and and the the high-impact choreographer Elizabeth Streb In 2010 after the passing of his beloved wife Marcia Chris re-funded PIP
which saw three studios led by Associate Professor Michael Oatman and two under the supervision of of Associate Professor Ted Krueger
The PIP
semester begins with a a a a a a visit from the collaborating artist(s) and features workshops exposing the the students to to each collaborator’s body of work Projects are assigned and the the visiting artists weigh in on the students’ progress remotely via Skype or social media Thus far each course has resulted in unique works that push boundaries budgets and most importantly enables students to discover just how widely their voices can be heard ‘Blindfield ’ with Spanish composer Francisco Lopez was presented at EMPAC in in the fall of 2010 Featuring 100 cloth banners equipped with resonant speaker panels and presenting 64 channels of of sound ‘Blindfield’ merged Lopez’s own concept of of blindfolded prone audiences with the students’ idea of a a a a a a a mobile viewer in in a a a a a a a low-visibility setting 2012’s ‘S[around]ound’ re-activated an 1872 gasometer in in in the heart of downtown Troy utilizing school-bus-sized inflatables scissor lifts that moved the audiences skyward and a a a a a a a a massive 100-foot origami wall Violinist Todd Reynolds pushed our students to new heights and provided a a a a a a breathtaking composition with improvisational electronics and an an an immersive sound system The The final Oatman studio ‘The Machine Starts ’ also presented at at EMPAC premiered in in in the spring of 2013 and is is detailed elsewhere in in in this catalog Ted Krueger’s first PIP
studio ‘Navigating and Negotiating Sound Architectures of the Night ’ ’ was conducted in in collaboration with groundbreaking generative artist/composer Bill Seaman and PIP
stu- dents It presented both digital and physical models that the audience could use to manipulate sound/ image files in real time Krueger’s follow-up ‘The Wave ’ ’ was an ambitious collaboration with the artist Andrea Polli the Darren Freshwater Institute HASS Professor Rob Hamilton and students of of the the PIP
studio The project translated extensive freshwater sensor data from the the most studied body of water in in America Lake George into a a a a a a a a graphic and acoustic environment Both premiered at at EMPAC At one of the ‘S[around]ound’ performances a a a a a a a a visiting engineer approached and asked me about the the the the goal of the the the the course I I replied “To make the the the the students impressed with their visions ” The PIP
studios will continue to to explore the intersection of architecture science history technology and narrative as a a a a a a a a a a way to to better understand—and feel—deeper connections to to other humans the the natural world and and the the many liminal territories to to which the the arts allow us entry The students teachers and and collaborators involved in in in all of the the the PIP
studios thank the the the Jaffe Family for their ongoing support All Students >
Michael Oatman Critic >
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