bio
Seth Cluett (b. 1976, Troy, NY) is an artist, performer, and composer whose work ranges from photography, and drawing to video, sound installation, concert music, and critical writing. Engaging the boundary between the auditory and other senses, his work is marked by a detailed attention to perception and to sound's role in the creation of a sense of place and the experience of time. The apparent tranquility of Cluett's work - at once gentle and un-nerving - is concerned with the rapidly shifting sensory landscape of technological development and urbanization.
Cluett uses minimal materials derived from close listening and observation of the environment to point up the way in which we personalize our objects and actions. Through creative mis-use of post-consumer goods, adaptive re-use of raw architectural elements, and a nostalgic obsession with dead technologies, these materials become instrumentalized. In this way, many of his pieces investigate the movement, patterns, and social organization of both work and play, while others explore the acoustic signature of specific locations, where sound is exposed as the result or goal of a social activity, a characteristic of architectural space, or a by-product of a geological process.
Cluett's work has been shown and/or performed internationally at institutions and festivals such as Kill Your Timid Notion at Dundee Contemporary Arts in Scotland; the 10th Rencontres Internationales, Palais de Tokyo Museum, and GRM in Paris; Hebbel am Ufer Theater in Berlin; the Osage Art Foundation in Hong Kong; The Kitchen, WPS1/MoMA, Issue Project Room, and Diapason Gallery in New York; the Institute for Contemporary Art, Studio Soto, and Mobius Artist Space in Boston; the Betty Rymer, Heaven, Artemisia, and Deadtech Galleries in Chicago; and the Deep Listening Space in Kingston, NY. He has created dance and theater works with DD Dorvillier/Human Future Dance Corp, Hélène Lesterin/Atlas Dance, and Jen Mesch. His work is documented on Errant Bodies Press, Sedimental, Crank Satori, BoxMedia, Stasisfield and Wavelet Records. He has published articles for The Open Space Magazine, Leonardo Music Journal, 306090, Earshot, and the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.
exhibition history - curriculum vitae
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Solo Exhibitions and Projects
2008
doleros (audio tourism at ringing rocks), Diapason Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
fleeting and massive, Movement Research Festival at Judson Church, New York, NY
2004
moraine shoal, Deep Listening Gallery, Kingston, NY
2003
barely, Galapagos Art Space, Brooklyn, NY
static geography and cloud-to-air, Diapason Gallery, New York, NY
departing ground, Deep Listening Gallery, Kingston, NY
2002
sonic photography/auditory topography, Deadtech Gallery, Chicago, IL
departing ground, Deep Listening Gallery, Kingston, NY
2000
precedence affect, Autumn Uprising, Institute for Contemporary Art, Boston, MA
Selected Group Exhibitions
2009
eccentricity, The Invisible Generation, Vision Forum at VCA Margaret Lawrence Gallery and Satellite, Melbourne; Les Kurbas Centre, Kiev; CPU 798, Beijing, and OCAT, Shenzhen
zero balance, The End of Something, Volume Projects, London, UK
doleros (audio tourism at ringing rocks), Zeroth Channel II, Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY
untitled, Sound of It, The Garage, San Diego, CA
a spatial asyndeton, ArchitecTones Festival, Arc-et-Senans, France
untitled, Sound of It, The Garage, San Diego, CA
2008
cloud-to-air, Kill Your Timid Notion, Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dundee, Scotland
studies of surfaces - ice: above/below, Denniston Hill Foundation, Woodridge, NY
6 new sounding objects, Fresh Picked, Arts Center for the Capital Region, Troy, NY
for morandi, Sonic Fragments, Princeton University Art Museum, Princeton, NJ
2007
to separate the soul from the body (after a poem by Michaux)/signals for a little place in the sky (before a poem by Michaux), October Contemporary, Osage Art Foundation, Kwun Tong, Hong Kong
snowshoes, Sounded Text Symposium/House of Sound, Princeton University, NJ
2005
breaker, Intersections: Art/Science/Mathematics, Roland Gibson Gallery, State University of New York at Potsdam, NY
the hidden autonomy of water, WPS1/10th Rencontres Internationales Paris, France and Berlin, Germany
2004
to do with the resolution of clouds, Festival New Mix, Electronic Music Foundation/Le Groupe de Recherches Musicales 10th Anniversary, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France
bring good things to light, Music in the Capital District 1900-present, Schenectady Museum, Schenectady, NY
2003
open/unfolding, Visiting Faculty Group Show, Schick Gallery, Skidmore College, NY
4 new sound works, s/light, Albany Center Galleries, Albany, NY
2002
masked verticalities: common fate, Resynthesis, Betty Rymer Gallery/Art Institute of Chicago, IL
single flame/single stream, Dartmouth University, NH
2001
air : water, William Duckworth's Cathedral at Galapagos, Brooklyn, NY
glass, Boston Cyberarts Festival, Mobius Arts Space, Boston, MA
2000
psycho-physical response time: 4:54, Video Book/ENDS, Albany Center Galleries, NY
advection and resistance, Halana/Empty Miracle Film and Video Festival, Astrocade Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
contralateral induction/illusory continuity, Engine 27 Gallery, New York, NY prism blues, dot comrades, Arts Center for the Capital Region, Troy, NY
Scored Works and Group Performance Pieces
2008
bean counting (for Alison Knowles), for beans, amplified metal plate, pipe, porcelain bowls, and electronics, Floating Point Festival, Issue Project Room, Brooklyn, NY
zero point, for Princeton Laptop Orchestra, Sonic Divergence Festival at Pick-Staiger Hall, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL
2007
anticipatory-illumination, for the Beneto Cereno ensemble (amplified objects, accordion, prepared gtr, and electronics), Bowerbird, Philadelphia, PA
planned patterns, co-composition with Olivia Block for prepared piano, amplified paper, amplified drawing, tin toys, and live electronics, Triage @ Elastic Arts Foundation, Chicago, Il
a murmur which redoubles, for Catch guitar quartet and tape, Output Festival, Amsterdam, NL
a radiance scored with shadow, for So Percussion (amplified paper, stones, vibraphone, and bass drum), Princeton University, NJ
2006
as the hour jumps to your eyes (4 windows on thalia field), for amplified paper, compressed air, and live electronics, FO(A)RM Festival for Sound and Video, Portland, OR
public distance, for Steve Mackey's House Band (4 castanets, 4 triangles, piano), Princeton University, NJ
a mark in place of acts, for the Manhattan School of Music Tactus Ensemble (flt/picc, Bb Cl, Ob, 2xPerc, vln, vla, vlc, cb), Princeton University, NJ
objects in stillness, for Clogs (gtr, bsn, prc, vla) and tape, Princeton University, NJ
sound scatter, co-composition with Scott Smallwood for Pauline Oliveros with the Princeton Laptop Orchestra, Princeton University, NJ
2005
on first reflection, site-specific composition for Tucker Dulin (tbn), tape, and resonant chamber, San Diego, CA
tracing moving circles, for the BSC (Michael Bullock, double bass; Chris Cooper, prepared guitar; Bhob Rainey, soprano sax; Vic Rawlings, cello; Howard Stelzer, tapes; Liz Tonne; voice), Princeton University, NJ
1998-
2004
opposite poles, for amplified metal, premiered at Deadtech Gallery, Chicago, IL
approaching zero, for amplified glass, premiered at Artemesia Gallery, Chicago, IL
onset-disparieties/time-invariant patterns, for sine-tone oscillators and amplified sound sculptures, premiered at spaceMUSIC II, Church of the Advent, Boston, MA
glottal stop 'ottle rocket, for acoustic bass and electric bass, commissioned by open faucet productions, premiered at Mobius Artist Space, Boston, MA
galvanized, for solo piano, commissioned by Jeong-Yoon Choi, premiered at Kresge Auditorium, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MA
Selected Solo Performances
2009
Barn, Brooklyn, NY
Staalplaat Records, Berlin, Germany
Electronic Church, Berlin, Germany
Das Kleine Field Recordings Festival, Radio Aligre, Paris, France
Live at the 64, Paris (w/ Stephan Moore, Keith Rowe, and Christian Wolff)
Café Oto, London (w/ Benedict Drew and Lee Patterson)
Islington Mill, Manchester, United Kingdom (w/ Benedict Drew and Lee Paterson)
2008
Roulette, New York, NY (w/ Brian Chase, Okkyung Lee, Miya Masoaka, Shoko Nagai, and Marina Rosenfeld)
Monkeytown, Brooklyn, NY
Dartmouth University, Hanover, NH
106bldg30, Shortwave, Brooklyn, NY
The Tank, New York, NY
Issue Project Room, Floating Point Festival, Brooklyn, NY (solo, w/ Curtis Bahn, and w/ Princeton Laptop Orchestra)
2007
Sanctuary for Independent Media, Deep Listening Convergence Festival, Troy, NY (w/ Anne Bourne, Kenta Nagai, and Scott Smallwood)
Blockhaus, Cable #13, Nantes, France
Knitting Factory, Histoire Naturelle, New York, NY (w/ Juien Ottavi and Michael Bullock)
Studio Soto, non-event productions, Boston, MA
UPENN-Music Annex, Bowerbird, Philadelphia, PA
Elastic Arts Foundation, Triage, Chicago, IL (solo and w/ Olivia Block)
2006
Geisel Library, University of California - San Diego, CA
Cross Currents Computer Music Festival, Penn State University, PA
Nexus Gallery, Bowerbird, Philadelphia, PA
Issue Project Room, Brooklyn, NY (w/ NY Phonographers)
Gilded Pony Performance Festival, Troy, NY
Schenectady Museum Planetarium, Schenectady, NY
2005
Terrace Club, FFMUP (Free-Form Mash-Up), Princeton, NJ
Atlantic Center for the Arts, Domeworks, New Smyrna Beach, FL
BPM Room, Brooklyn, NY
Issue Project Room, Brooklyn, NY
Arts Center for the Capital Region, Troy, NY
2004
Issue Project Room (w/ NY Phonographers), Brooklyn, NY
Avenue B Public Gardens (w/ NY Phonographers), New York, NY
The Gasholder Building (w/ NY Phonographers), Troy, NY
Theatre Sur la Pavé, Paris, France
Tonic, Subtonic Lounge, New York, NY
2003
MassArt/non-pod, Boston, MA
Remote Lounge, 5:th, New York, NY
Gallery 108, non-event productions, Cambridge, MA
P4, Goodship Productions, Troy, NY
2002
Berwick Research Institute, Boston, MA
Roosevelt Island Visual Art Gallery, Analogic Sensations Festival, New York, NY
Diapason Gallery, New York, NY
The Knitting Factory, Bunker Annex, New York, NY (solo and w/ Michael Schumacher)
Deep Listening Space, Alternating Currents, Kingston, NY
The Flywheel, Easthampton, MA
2001
The Revolving Museum, Boston, MA
Artemesia Gallery, Chicago, IL (solo and w/ Andrea Polli)
The Brickhouse, Chicago, IL (solo and w/ Adam Sonderberg and Fred Lonberg-Holm)
Impulse/Response, Troy, NY
Deadtech Gallery, Chicago, IL
Galapagos, Brooklyn, NY
International Computer Music Conference, Havana, Cuba
The Bookmill, Grist Series, Montague, MA
Institute for Contemporary Art, Autumn Uprising, Boston, MA
Selected Sound for Dance
No change or 'freedom is a psycho-kinetic skill,' with D.D. Dorvillier, performances in New York (Danspace,
Dance Theater Workshop), Berlin (Hebbel Am Ufer), Vienna (ImPulsTanz), Moscow (Tseh Festival/Springdance
Dialogues), Zagreb, 2005-present
24 x 4 x 4, Movement Research at Judson Church, Spring Festival, New York, NY, 2008
Ringing Rocks, Movement Research at Judson Church, Spring Festival, New York, NY, 2008
Siren, with Nina Hayuma Habulan-Gelladuga, Tomas Belen and Koala Yip, October Contemporary, Osage Arts
Foundation, Kwun Tong, Hong Kong, 2007
Praxis, with Stephan Moore for Hélène Lesterlin/ATLAS Dance, The American Living Room Festival, hERE Arts
Center, New York, NY, 2007
History & Physical, Jen Mesch Dance Conspiracy, FFMUP (Free-Form Mash-Up), Princeton, NJ, 2007
Discography
2009
"cloud-to-air," in 10-Year Retrospective Catalog, Diapason Gallery for Sound, edited Michael Schumacher (Brooklyn, NY: Diapason Gallery, forthcoming)
"fleeting and massive," in Leonardo Music Journal 19 CD compilation, curated by Pauline Oliveros (forthcoming)
"cassette-walkman played with hand" and "arcade button matrix mixer with feedback," in Nicolas Collins, Handmade Electronic Music: The Art of Hardware Hacking, 2nd edition (London: Routledge, 2009)
a position in equilibrium, Stasisfield, Chicago, IL
2008
"Apple-Box Double" (with Pauline Oliveros), in The San Francisco Tape Music Center: 1960s Counterculture and the Avant-Garde, edited David W. Bernstein (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2008)
2005
1 Hour As Something That Didn’t Turn Out The Way I Intended It (with Greg Kelley and ensemble), Chocolate Monk, Sussex, UK
2004
my own thousand shatterings, Sedimental Records, Boston, MA
undr, boxMedia, Chicago, IL
2003
"the hidden autonomy of water," in Surface Tension: Problematics of Site, edited Ken Ehrlich and Brandon LaBelle, CD curated by Stephen Vitiello (Los Angeles: Errant Bodies Press, 2003)
masked verticalities, crank satori records, Chicago, IL
2000
some statements (as Nyquist w/ Scott Smallwood and Joel Taylor), Wavelet Records, Troy, NY
dispersions (as Nyquist w/ Scott Smallwood and Joel Taylor), Wavelet Records, Troy, NY
Selected Publications
"cloud-to-air," in 10-Year Retrospective Catalog, Diapason Gallery for Sound, edited Michael Schumacher
(Brooklyn, NY: Diapason Gallery, forthcoming 2009)
"bathwater," in The Book of Aural Guilty Pleasures, edited Kim Cascone and Song Ming An (forthcoming 2009)
"Le Corps est une Usine à Sons/The Body is a Sound Factory: Postlude to the Work of Henri Chopin (1922-
2008)," The Open Space Magazine 10 (Fall 2008)
"two duos for rubbing stones on stone (on a poem by gianchinto scelsi)," in Tools of Mind, edited Matthew
Marble, FO(A)RM special issue 1 (2007)
"Toward a Post-Phenomenology of Extra-Musical Sound as Compositional Determinant," Leonardo Music
Journal 16 "Noises Off: Sound Beyond Music" (2006)
"waterfall," cover drawing from sound, FO(A)RM 4 "(topography)" (2005)
"a dance about emptiness, or: how architects can design nothing into something," 306090 06 "Shifting
Infrastructures" (2004)
"silent building, silent mind: essays on sound and architecture," Earshot: The Journal of the UK and Ireland
Soundscape Community 3 (2004)
"the hidden autonomy of water," in Surface Tension: Problematics of Site, edited Ken Ehrlich and Brandon
LaBelle (Los Angeles: Errant Bodies Press, 2003)
"The Integration of computer-generated sounds and acoustic sources during live in electro-acoustic
improvisation" (with Scott Smallwood), Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 110/2692 (2001)
"Interactions among acoustics, digital signal processing, and movement," Journal of the Acoustical Society of
America 108/2538 (2000)
Selected Interviews and Reviews
Mark Peter Wright, interview, EARROOM, forthcoming Fall 2009
Rinus Van Alebeek, interview, Staalplaat: Radio-On, July 2009
Jonathan Webb and Ashley Wong, “Sound in Context,” a documentary film, Sound and Music, August 2009
Benedict Drew, interview, resonance FM, April 2009
Marc Weidenbaum, "Über-quiet Seth Cluett MP3," disquiet, April 2009
Michael Wilson, "Seth Cluett, Diapason," Artforum, September 2008
Karinne Keithley, "Ringing Rocks," Critical Correspondence, June 2008
Alan Lockwood, "Liberating Sound: Floating Points Plays ISSUE Project Room," Brooklyn Rail, September 2008
Alicia Brooks Waltman, "From chamber music to multimedia installations, Young composers find their own
sounds at Princeton," Princeton Alumni Weekly, April 2008
Jenn Joy, "DD Dorvillier's No change or 'freedom is a psycho-kinetic skill,’" in Women & Performance: A
Journal of Feminist Theory 17/2 (July 2007)
Jennifer Dunning, "Doggedly Slipping Into Jeans as a Microphone Scrapes," New York Times, 29 September
2005
Steve Rybicki "Seth Cluett, My Own Thousand Shatterings," Foxy Digitalis, May 2005
Edwin Pouncey, "Seth Cluett," The Wire: Adventures in Modern Music 254, April 2005
Max Schaefer, "Seth Cluett, My Own Thousand Shatterings," e/i: Music, Electronic and Otherwise 6, March
2005
Stefano I. Bianchi, "Seth Cluett, My Own Thousand Shatterings," Blow-up, January 2005
Frans de Waard, "Seth Cluett," Staalplaat/Vital Weekly 457/2, January 2005
Andrew Culler, "Seth Cluett, My Own Thousand Shatterings," Brainwashed 07I46, November 2004
Susanna Bolle, interview, grooves: experimental electronic music magazine, March 2003
Invited Speaking, Colloquia, and Critiques
Young Artist Development Workshop, Kill Your Timid Notion, Dundee, Scotland, UK, 2008
"Sound Art in Documents," workshop and colloquium, Department of Visual Arts, Brown
University, RI, 2008
"Sound Art in Documents," colloquium and critique, Department of Creative
Writing, University of Pennsylvania, PA, 2007
"Sound Thinking," visiting artist talk, Department of Sound, School of the Art Institute
of Chicago, 2007
"Perception, Architecture and the Science in Sound Art," visiting artist talk, Gibson
Gallery, State University of New York at Potsdam, NY, 2005
Guest Critic, State University of New York at Albany, NY, 2002
Guest Critic, Department of Sound, School of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston,
MA, 2001
Residencies and Workshops
Studio for Electro-Instrumental Music (STEIM) residency, Amsterdam, NL, 2009
Atlantic Center for the Arts residency, New Smyrna Beach, Fl, 2004
Centro Tempo Reale/Carnegie Hall, professional development workshop with Luciano Berio, New York, NY,
1998
Institute de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique (IRCAM) certificate, Paris, France, 1998
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