Video overview of "Glitchfield," an interactive art installation created by Ben K. Foley (http://www.benkfoley.com) and Allison Tanenhaus (https://allisontanenhaus.com). Premiered at GlitchKraft: Allison Tanenhaus + Friends, Emerson Contemporary, Boston, MA, 9/18–10/6/19. Backing track "Euronymous" courtesy of collaborative synth duo Robin Amos and Blaik Ripton aka The Square Root of Negative Two (https://allisontanenhaus.com/squareroot).


“Glitchfield” is a handmade infinity box that brings to life an immersive, endless, kaleidoscopic, optical illusory environment.

The bold op-art forms, vibrant colors, and pulsating patterns interplay with the mirrored sides, both accentuating and expanding the geometric angles of the art, as well as virtually erasing the physical box’s corners. Viewed from the right angle, “Glitchfield” occupies your full field of vision, without an endpoint in sight.

By looking from above into—rather than straight forward at—the projection and the mirrored sides, you are not visible in the installation. (In other words, your appearance does not make an appearance!) The result is an exhilarating rush that simultaneously prompts losing yourself in—while simultaneously becoming hyper-present of—the immediate dimensional moment.

Multiple people can gaze into “Glitchfield” at the same time, so it can be experienced by a crowd as a social event or taken in as a solitary meditation. For those not tall enough to peer over, unobtrusive holes have been drilled into the glass, enabling an accessible vista for all.

“Glitchfield” celebrates the universal, timeless accessibility of abstract art, the spirit of innovation in the merging of art and technology, and the collaborative power of conceptual thinking and physical creations. The viewing sensation of “Glitchfield” aims to unite all—regardless of language, background, or identity—with an elevated extra-dimensional experience that erases boundaries via equal parts enchantment and enlightenment.

Glitchfield

The second of my very first batch of electronic compositions. I got super into playing around with visual representations of sound waves. Partly as a conceptual exercise...and partly 'cause it looks way cool.   :))))

FrequenSee

My *very* first foray into electronic composition. For the visuals, I was going for '70s TV station intro.  :)

Planetek

A candy-colored, slightly sinister, otherworldly meditation on industrial waste and atmospheric decay. Presented in the form of a hypnotic music video for Boston electronic synth duo The Square Root of Negative Two (https://allisontanenhaus.com/squareroot).


Dustria

"Corporate Responsibility Pledge” (2020) by musician and composer Doug Bielmeier (https://soundcloud.com/douglassbielmeier) and glitch artist Allison Tanenhaus (https://allisontanenhaus.com) is a multimedia work that identifies the conflict between corporations and communities of people. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is the movement in business to take responsibility for the role of corporations in the quality of life of the communities they serve and operate in. The piece asserts that as either a marketing tool or as an altruistic effort, CSR has both a positive and negative effect on the lives of people and their communities.

Musically, the work explores a combination of a fixed macro-musical structure with that of performer-determined micro-musical structure. The piece evolves over 6 minutes by predetermined decisions by the composer and the performers, who determine the repetition and ordering of small musical phrases within the middle of the piece. The fixed computer and video part serves as an anchor for timing and dynamic/rhythmic growth. The aim is to allow the performers to become co-authors of the work, making each performance unique, yet having a similar over-arching shape.

The video is an assemblage of public domain footage from the mid-twentieth century—industrial shorts, advertisements, PSAs, environmental films, and home movies—that has been ripped, glitched, and restitched. The resulting narrative originates with the golden potential of capitalism for the American nuclear family, and quickly deteriorates into a neon-tinged, retrofuturistic miasma of big business’s shortcomings. With an eye on economy and ecology in equal measure, the video both celebrates and laments the premise and promise of commercial progress.

Created in partnership with the musicians of the Unheard-of//Ensemble (https://www.unheard-ofproject.com).

Corporate Responsibility Pledge

Collaborative piece featuring music by Maria Finkelmeier (http://www.mariafinkelmeier.com), a Boston-based percussionist, composer, and producer, and Allison Tanenhaus (https://allisontanenhaus.com), a Boston-based digital glitch artist.

Playtime

Collaborative piece featuring music by Maria Finkelmeier (http://www.mariafinkelmeier.com), a Boston-based percussionist, composer, and producer, and Allison Tanenhaus (https://allisontanenhaus.com), a Boston-based digital glitch artist. Features audio samples of Maria's daughter's first sonogram.

LP's Hope

Collaborative piece featuring music by Maria Finkelmeier (http://www.mariafinkelmeier.com), a Boston-based percussionist, composer, and producer, and Allison Tanenhaus (https://allisontanenhaus.com), a Boston-based digital glitch artist. This piece is about the report that a 1.5° C rise in temperature would be detrimental to our planet. So enjoy this art while you can...

Edge Rising

Collaborative piece featuring music by percussionists and composers Maria Finkelmeier (http://www.mariafinkelmeier.com) and Noah Demland (https://papercussion.bandcamp.com), with visuals by digital glitch artist Allison Tanenhaus (https://allisontanenhaus.com).

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Allison Tanenhaus