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with Robert Watts and Bob Diamond |
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Cloud Music |
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in April 2013, the original Cloud Music installation was acquired into the permanent collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington. The piece is on display in the Lincoln Gallery of the Modern and Contemporary Art section of the museum. |
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(1974 — 1979) |
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©1979 |
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poster by William Farley (1977) |
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Cloud Music consists of a video camera that scans the sky, a specialized video analyzer that reads changes of light in the camera's field of view, and a custom-designed music synthesizer that takes signals from the video analyzer and generates six audio channels. Real-time changes in cloud formations are translated into shifting harmonic textures. Two video monitors and six loudspeakers allow viewers to experience the installation's ongoing operation. |
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The acquisition of Cloud Music is part of the Smithsonian's Film and Media Arts Initiative, reflecting the institution's commitment to the collection and research of innovative media works. John Hanhardt, Senior Curator of Film and Media Arts is leading this initiative with Michael Mansfield, Associate Curator of Film and Media Arts. Cloud Music was collaboratively developed by the three artists in the Nineteen Seventies. In 1979 it was featured in the Whitney Museum's exhibition Re-visions: Projects and Proposals in Film and Video, curated by John Hanhardt. It was also briefly shown in galleries and museums in San Francisco, Berlin, Linz and Toronto. |
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Robert Watts (1923-1988) was a key figure in the expanding experimental intermedia arts beginning in the early 1960s. He participated in every major art movement of his time from Neo-Dada and Pop to Conceptual and Postmodern art. He was a central figure in the Fluxus movement and a virtuoso of nontraditional materials. Watts’s extensive oeuvre includes innovations in sculpture, photography, film, sound and performance. His works have been exhibited in many major exhibitions and are included in numerous museum and private collections. The Robert Watts Estate is co-directed by Larry Miller and Sara Seagull, NYC. |
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photos by Michael Mansfield |
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current installation in the Lincoln Gallery at the Smithsonian |
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video analyzer, 1976 |
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music synthesizer, 1976 |
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Links to further information on Smithsonian Museum websites: |
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