Sunset is an auspicious moment, both an ending and a beginning, a way to commemorate the previous day and herald the change that will come with the next one.
Previous NMASS Festivals have been ceremonially opened by Dusking, an outdoor, public sound event organized by R. Lee Dockery, performed from dusk to sunset.
For NMASS 2020, four members of Phonography Austin will participate in a live, remote audio/video stream documenting the sunset in Austin, Texas on June 20, from 8 PM to 9 PM.
With the artists and audience geographically separate from one another, and opportunities for ceremony strictly limited, the artists will focus on the visceral shared moment of sunset to find new ways to communicate and connect.
R. Lee Dockery is a musician and artist working out of Austin, Texas . His primary focus is the recording and manipulation of field recordings, objects and unconventional sound sources . He has released albums for such labels as No Kings, Somatic, and Astral Spirits.
Vanessa Gelvin is a sound artist and sculptor working in glass, stone, and porcelain. Her work primarily draws from her academic background in cultural anthropology, sociology, and media studies. She is a founding member of arts collective Phonography Austin and avant-garde chamber ensemble, Katie & Rachel.
Alex Keller is an audio artist, sound designer, curator and teacher based in Austin, Texas. His work is in the media of performance, installation, and recorded release, and reflects his interests in architecture, language, abstraction and music.
He is an active audio production professional, has taught classes in media production at the Art Institute of Austin, Shoreline College, and the Art Institute of Seattle, and has won awards for his creative work from the Austin Chronicle, the City of Seattle, Puget Sound Transit, and Jack Straw Productions. Recent recorded pieces have been released on Elevator Bath, Loma Editions, and Mimeomeme.
Daniy Oberle is a sound designer and field recordist based in Austin, Texas. She aims to highlight the beauty and interest of the everyday sounds that define us. An avid traveler, she incorporates recordings from all over the world. After finding so much electromagnetic interference and machine noise in field recordings, she hopes to promote education of the effect humans and their technology have on the audible environment.
Phonography Austin is dedicated to exploring phonography (the creation and presentation of field recordings as art objects) and acoustic ecology (the study of the effects of the acoustic environment on those living within it).
Our activities include sound art events, an annual report, workshops, and citizen research in acoustic ecology.