Maker Music Festival: Undulations

Undulations

A letterpress monoprint installation and interactive video, experimental music performance

Created by printer and performance artist Mitchel Ahern, a field of over 1,000 10, 12 and 36 pt letterpress dots create a unique moiré pattern on 18” fabric squares. Fifty of the squares are arrayed in a 5x5 2-sided grid. Hung from the ceiling they waver in the air currents at the Galleries at Lynn Arts (GALA) in Lynn Massachusetts. A streaming performance is happening Saturday April 10th at 8 PM with live-action interactive video artist Greg Kowalski, who will be projecting interactive video on one side of the installation, with Mitchel Ahern performing on his self-invented instrument, the harrow, on the other side.

The harrow is a piece of farm equipment know as a blade harrow, towed behind the tractor to plow the field. I invented/adapted the instrument version a few years ago, replacing a similar instrument called the lid, which is a lid off of a wringer washing machine. Both played with bows (student German bass bow), mallets, springs, chains, fingers and other devices.

Frequently Asked Questions

What inspired you to do this?

The artwork, a two sided 5x5 grid of 18" letterpress monoprints on fabric, called out for video projection, and musical interaction.

How long did it take to make it?

The printing of the fabric took a few weeks, the video component also took a couple of weeks. The invented instrument, the harrow was created a few years ago.

How long have you been doing things like this?

Perhaps 20 years.

How much did this cost to do?

Fabric costs were maybe $200.

Have you done other things like this?

Yes.

What did you wish you knew before you started this?

We should have done a test video on the two sided fabric. The end result was cool, but some of the video detail was lost.

What’s next?

Always working on new projects, although nothing multimedia in the pipeline right now.

Mitchel Ahern : Performer/Performance Artist

I am a performer on self-invented musical instruments, particularly on the harrow. I also am a letterpress printer, theatrical producer, lyricist and community arts activist.