Jitr จิตร: extended gong ensemble

September 23, 2023
Presented by CultureHub

Jitr จิตร: extended gong ensemble is a multichannel audio and visual networked live coding, collaborative sound making, and an extended branch from elekhlekha’s process-oriented project, Jitr จิตร. The two core pillars of Jitr จิตร: extended gong ensemble are: a communal gathering that is rooted in Southeast Asian indigenous practices and the MIDI network of gongs that connect elekhlekha with their live coding collaborators, easterner and Luisa Mei Bressan.

Jitr จิตร: extended gong ensemble invites audiences to join in the performance and make sounds with found objects, whatever one has in their pocket, or their own body. The sentiment of network gong is to democratize interaction with each live coding performer. The performance is created with specific frequencies tied to Southeast Asian sound cultures. It uses these tunings as a constraint to create a ritual musical performance with melodies and rhythms spread out among live coders thus eliminating the role of the dominant force and underlining the agency of each individual who participates.

Jitr จิตร: extended gong ensemble was developed in the CultureHub Residency Program.

elekhlekha (Nitcha Tothong–ณิชชา โตทอง & Kengchakaj–เก่งฉกาจ) is a Bangkok-born collaborative artist practice focusing on research that examines and decoded past histories by creating, using code, algorithm, multimedia, and technology to experiment, explore, and define decolonized possibilities. They are currently based in Lenapehoking (Brooklyn). elekhlekha has received support from Babycastles, Rhizome, Processing Foundation and etc. In 2022, they were awarded The Lumen Prize Gold Award for their debut project, Jitr (จิตร), a performative audio-visual that utilizes historical research, Southeast Asian sound cultures, and live coding tools to reconcile Southeast Asia's shared heritage. elekhlekha is a 2023-2024 CultureHub Resident Artist. elekhlekha.xyz

Collaborators:
easterner (Eric Lee) is an interdisciplinary artist from London/Hong Kong, based in New York, who is curious about the cyborg condition: what does living in interconnected human-machine communities in a precarious world mean? He plays with old and new technologies—ubiquitous to obsolete—to explore their poetic potential and question their social impacts. His latest project, “human-machine interface // vox machina,” experiments with the live coding of human instrumentalists and vocalists.

Luisa Mei Bressan is an audio-visual artist currently based in upstate New York. She primarily works with Supercollider to build unique environments for musical performances. She also creates visuals in Supercollider by manipulating digitized versions of her hand-drawn art. She has released several albums of textural music created with these programs and regularly performs live-coded sets. Her process is mainly improvisational and explores the relationship between logic and intuition.

Moderator:
Celine Wong Katzman is an independent curator based in New York and Singapore. She is Co-Director of the School for Poetic Computation, an experimental platform for the study of code, hardware, and theory through lenses of artistic intervention and abolitionist politics. Previously, she was Curator at Rhizome, an affiliate of the New Museum. In 2022 and 2023, she mentored and facilitated Art & Code, a residency program at NEW INC. In 2019-2020 she was Curatorial Fellow at the Queens Museum. She holds a B.A. in Visual Art with honors from Brown University.

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