After a wildly successful blending of nature and sound at Bartram’s Garden, the local audio experimenters of Data Garden are participating in an exhibit at the
Philadelphia Museum of Art this weekend. Data Garden was invited to participate in the exhibit "Zoe Strauss: Ten Years," which is a display of urban photography from Strauss and the Philadelphia Public Art Project. The audio quartet will be featuring sounds from four tropical plants to provide a natural backdrop to Strauss’ urban landscape.
Data Garden will translate the "electronic impulses" of two philodendrons, a schefflera, and a snake plant at the "Data Garden: Quartet" performance, says Joe Patitucci, a sound artist in the group. One member will be responsible for the electronics, two members will handle the sound production, and the fourth artist will create the ceramic planters. They will sell 25 limited edition albums at the show, all of which will be made of a material that can be put back into the earth and planted, says Patitucci. Music can also be purchased on Data Garden’s website.
The audio synthesizers are excited to perform at the Art Museum, even though it’s not as public as previous performances. "The Philadelphia Museum of Art is an amazing venue and we know it's going to expose us to a larger audience we don't normally have an opportunity to reach," says Patitucci. He also muses that audio art will be a refreshing break for exhibit-goers from gazing at paintings on a wall.
This exhibit comes on the heels of a smashingly successful
public art display at Bartram’s Garden, which Patitucci says drew the most people ever to an event at the Garden. He says that over 700 people came "to experience art, performance and public space in new ways" during
The Switched-On Garden, which took place in early-October. The event was so successful that the audio label has already started a
Kickstarter page, and is hoping to raise $7,000 by April 24 for another public art installment at Bartram’s. Patitucci says it’s important the event remain free.
"Data Garden: Quartet" was invited to participate in the Zoe Strauss exhibit by
Megawords, which is a photography magazine that hosts public art events. Megawords has a library and exhibition space in the exhibit. Patitucci describes the upcoming performance as an intersection between "plants, music, and technology." If you’re unable to make the Quartet, the audio will be made available in the
Data Garden store on their website. Even better, Data Garden’s next public art performance at
Bartram’s Garden might be sooner rather than later.
Writer: Andy Sharpe
Source: Joe Patitucci, Data Garden
Photo courtesy of Data Garden