Society for the Activation of Social Space through Art and Sound

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The Society for the Activation of Social Space through Art and Sound (SASSAS) is a non profit organization that serves to promote the creation, presentation, and recognition of experimental art and sound events in the greater Los Angeles area. SASSAS members are interested in how experimental art, architecture and music interact.

Contents

History

To encourage this interaction in a social context, Los Angeles artist Cindy Bernard initiated the “sound." concert series in 1999, providing forums where musicians from diverse backgrounds could work together. In 2000, “sound.” moved to the MAK Center for Art and Architecture at the Schindler House in West Hollywood. [1] This informal residential setting enabled audiences to enjoy an intimate musical experience while surrounded by an important example of modern architecture. Building on the success of “sound.”, SASSAS was incorporated and a Board of Directors formed in 2002. Starting in 2004, SASSAS developed partnerships with larger venues such as REDCAT and the John Anson Ford Amphitheatre, bringing even greater exposure to the Los Angeles experimental community.

Cindy Bernard is a Los-Angeles based artist whose artistic practice comprises photography, video, performance, and activism. In 2002, Cindy Bernard founded the Society for the Activation of Social Space through Art and Sound(SASSAS), which presents site-relational experimental music. Her numerous Hitchcock references have been discussed in Dan Auiler's Vertigo: The Making of a Hitchcock Classic (1998), essays by Douglas Cunningham and Christine Spengler in The San Francisco of Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo: Place, Pilgrimage and Commemoration (2012) and Spengler's Hitchcock and Contemporary Art (2014).

Schindler House house in West Hollywood, California, designed by architect Rudolf Schindler

The Schindler House, also known as the Schindler Chace House, or Kings Road House is a house in West Hollywood, California, designed by architect Rudolph M. Schindler.

Modern architecture broad type of architecture

Modern architecture, or modernist architecture was based upon new and innovative technologies of construction, particularly the use of glass, steel and reinforced concrete; the idea that form should follow function; an embrace of minimalism; and a rejection of ornament. It emerged in the first half of the 20th century and became dominant after World War II until the 1980s, when it was gradually replaced as the principal style for institutional and corporate buildings by postmodern architecture.

To date, more than 40 concerts have been presented including performances by Pauline Oliveros, James Tenney, Nels Cline, Petra Haden, Wadada Leo Smith, Phil Cohran, Roscoe Mitchell, Joseph Jarman, Harold Budd, Glenn Branca, Tetuzi Akiyama and many others.

Pauline Oliveros American composer and musician

Pauline Oliveros was an American composer, accordionist and a central figure in the development of experimental and post-war electronic art music.

James Tenney American composer and music theorist

James Tenney was an American composer and music theorist. He made significant early musical contributions to plunderphonics, sound synthesis, algorithmic composition, process music, spectral music, microtonal music, and tuning systems including extended just intonation. His theoretical writings variously concern musical form, texture, timbre, consonance and dissonance, and harmonic perception.

Nels Cline American guitarist and composer

Nels Courtney Cline is an American guitarist and composer. He has been the guitarist for the band Wilco since 2004.

In addition to producing concerts, SASSAS maintains an extensive on-line audio archive of past concerts.

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References

  1. Josef Woodard, "This Old Sonic House", "The Los Angeles Times," 2001-07-21