Christopher Janney & Joan Brigham
Steamshuffle Pittsburgh (1985)
Glass, steam, sound, electronic equipment
Text by Emmett Williams
Oliver Plaza, Downtown Pittsburgh
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Eight glass panels, two feet wide and eight feet high, were installed on a public plaza for a week in winter. The interactive performance sculpture was composed of three elements: steam, sound and poetry. As pedestrians walked by the eight upright glass panels, they interrupted photo-cell beams which triggered a succession of electronically-composed sounds and activated jets of steam aimed at each panel. When the steam hit the glass, it revealed a series of poems sandblasted into the glass in block letters several inches high.
Sounds of barnyard animals, jungle roars, hissing and whistles combined with traffic noises. At intervals, on each sheet of glass, the words slowly vanished, making way for the next burst of steam and more poetry.
Christopher Janney
American, born 1950
Joan Brigham
American, born 1935
"The elements of STEAMSHUFFLE are present in most large cities: glass of modern curtain-wall buildings, steam from public utilities, sound from radios and the city itself, and language from signs and advertising. These elements are reconformed to make a work of public art entirely responsive to its public participation.
"STEAMSHUFFLE is a place for self-expression: people walking, running, some with skateboards, rollerskates or bicycles, trigger this 'responsive architecture,' creating a spontaneous dance of lively interaction."
Christopher Janney/Selected Soundworks and Exhibitions
1986 Inside Rhythms, Inaugural ceremonies, Center for the Arts, Vero Beach, FL and American National Theater, Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington, DC
1986 DESERT HARP, Desert Sun/Desert Moon, Center for Advanced Visual Studies, M.I.T., Mojave Desert, Lone Pine, CA
1985 Inside Rhythms, Great Hall, Cooper Union, New York, NY
1985 Soundstair, New Music America '85, Los Angeles, CA
1982 Reach! 4th Spiel und Klangstrasse, Essen, Germany, and Sky Art Conference, Linz, Austria
1980 Cityharp, 5th Avant-Gards Art Festival, New York, NY
Joan Brigham/Selected Environmental Works and Exhibitions
1986 Scenes from the Creation, First Night, Inc., City Hall Plaza, Boston, MA
1986 AQUA-MIRAGE, laser drawings on water mist, for Art in Embassies Program, State Department, Washington Harbor, Potomac River, Washington, DC
1985 Zodiac, First Night, Inc, City Hall Plaza; steam, inflatables, ice sculptures and laser drawings, City Hall Plaza, Boston, MA
1983 Sunwheel II, Sky Art Conference, and Exhibition 'Kunst and Technik,' Munich, Germany
1979 Steam Screens, steam and film installation, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
1979 Aeolipiles, solo exhibition of steam-powered kinetic glass sculptures, Conservatoire National des Arts et Metiers, Paris, France
Référence: http://www.mattress.org/Catalogue/steam.html