Patterns in Nature
A multimedia interdisciplinary work interconnecting Science, Music and Film
This ambitious new project involves developing a multimedia work in collaboration with Physicist Dr. Stephen Morris whose area of research is Emergent Patterns in Nature; four filmmakers: Anne Beal, Gita Blak, Lee Hutzulak and Udo Prinsen; and composer and saxophonist Quinsin Nachoff writing a score for a modern chamber orchestra with unique improvisers that bridges the jazz and classical worlds.
The four movement 40-minute work will give each filmmaker the opportunity to explore an area of research within the Emergent Patterns in Nature field of physics: Branches, Flow, Cracks and Ripples. Drawing inspiration from each other’s work in progress, the development stage will see composer, scientist, filmmakers and the featured musicians working collaboratively. Dr. Morris will construct new physical experiments specifically for this project that will provide source materials that can be incorporated into the composition and filmmaking processes. Each movement of the composition will feature a different filmmaker and a different core improviser from within the chamber ensemble, creating a body of work that is strongly differentiated, but with a powerful unifying concept. Bridging jazz and classical worlds with an instrumental palette that blends a modern chamber orchestra with unique improvisers, along with the powerful visual statements from the unique film creations of Nachoff’s collaborators Anne Beal, Gita Blak, Lee Hutzulak and Udo Prinsen, the result will be a unique and unforgettable immersive experience.
The chamber ensemble instrumentation will consist of 6 woodwinds (flute, clarinet, oboe, tenor saxophone, bass clarinet, bassoon), 3 brass (trumpet, French horn, trombone), harp, percussion, string quartet (2 violins, viola, cello), bass, drumset and conductor.
Featured soloists will include clarinetist François Houle, the Molinari String Quartet, pianist Matt Mitchell, bassist Mark Helias, drummer Satoshi Takeishi and saxophonist Quinsin Nachoff.
Project creation and development: January 2022 through May 2022
Concert and recording in NYC: Fall 2022
Concert in Toronto, Canada: Fall 2022
Supported, in part, through The Canada Council for the Arts
www.quinsin.com
New York musician Quinsin Nachoff has carved out a unique career exploring the connection between the twin worlds of jazz and classical music, in a city that is equally renowned for both. Nachoff gained early recognition as an award-winning tenor saxophonist in his native Toronto, establishing a name as a formidable player “parsing shimmers of Sonny Rollins, Wayne Shorter and Mark Turner” (Downbeat).
His individuality as a composer became evident on his 2006 debut Magic Numbers, with its groundbreaking blend of chordless jazz trio and string quartet. Since then, a consistently impressive output of albums, projects and commissions have demonstrated his willingness and ability to explore both worlds with equal conviction, whether through his 2017 Saxophone Concerto appearance and commission, Winding Tessellations, with contemporary chamber group Turning Point Ensemble, his 2018 commission for the Molinari String Quartet, or his remarkable group Flux, which features the stellar talents of saxophonist David Binney, keyboardist Matt Mitchell, and drummers Kenny Wollesen and Nate Wood. The group’s 2019 album, Path Of Totality, received worldwide acclaim for its ambitious, immersive long-form pieces that blended intriguing compositional approaches with the passion and freedom of jazz improvisation.
Nachoff’s 2020 release Pivotal Arc presented his most ambitious and acclaimed project yet: bringing together virtuoso violin soloist Nathalie Bonin with a jazz-inflected unit featuring two established giants of the NY scene, bassist Mark Helias and drummer Satoshi Takeishi, and adding a wind and string ensemble to realize his unique crossover vision. Nachoff continues to compose, tour and record with an array of cutting-edge international artists while leading his own projects, including Flux, Ethereal Trio, Horizons Ensemble and Pyramid Project.
http://www.physics.utoronto.ca/~smorris
Professor, Department of Physics,
University of Toronto
Ph. D., 1991, The University of Toronto,
M. Sc., 1985, The University of British Columbia,
B. Sc., 1981, The University of British Columbia.
Winner of the 2003 APUS/SAC award for excellence in teaching.
Winner of the Faculty of Arts and Science Outstanding Teaching Award, 2004.
Visiting Fellow, Clare Hall, Cambridge University, November 2005-July 2006.
Senior Visiting Fellow, The Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematics, Cambridge University, 2005.
Fellow of the American Physical Society, 2012.
J. Tuzo Wilson Professor of Geophysics (5 year term), 2014 – 2019.
Co-curator of the ArtSci Salon at the Fields Institute of Mathematical Science, 2013 – present.
Research interests: experimental nonlinear physics, nonequilibrium pattern formation and spatio-temporal chaos, convection in simple fluids and liquid crystals, segregation in granular media, laboratory geophysical fluid dynamics, the history of Physics and art/science crossover.
Continuously funded by NSERC since 1993.
Over 50 refereed publications since 1986. Over 25 conference presentations in the last 5 years. Over 40 invited talks and lectures in the last 5 years. Numerous undergraduate and graduate courses taught.
7 PhD and 11 MSc theses supervised since 1996.
Art credits:
Riverdale Art Walk, June 1, 2, 2013.
“Perpetual Motion”, installation and performance, Project Gallery, June 27-July 5, 2013.
Annex Patio art show, July 13-14, 2013.
Subtle Technologies advisory board member and symposium presenter.
“The Map and the Territory”, gallery show with Ron Wild, at the Red Head Gallery, January 2016.
Collaboration on “Ice”, composition by J. LeBlanc, video by F. Chanda, performed by Continuum Contemporary Music, May 2015.
Collaboration on “Bounce”, composition by Q. Nachoff, on “Path of Totality”, album, 2018.
Collaborated on “Winding Tessellations”, composition by Q. Nachoff, premiered 2017 at The Vancouver International Jazz Festival with Turning Point Ensemble.
Artist/Scientist statement:
I am interested in self-organized, emergent patterns and textures. I take photos of patterns both from the natural world and of experiments in my laboratory. Patterns naturally attract casual attention but are also the subject of serious scientific research. Some things just evolve all by themselves into strikingly regular shapes and textures. These shapes emerge spontaneously from a dynamic process of growing, folding, cracking, wrinkling, branching, flowing and other kinds of morphological development. My photos are informed by the scientific aesthetic of nonlinear physics, and mathematics lurks behind every image for those who know where to look for it. My art images celebrate the subtle interplay of order and complexity in emergent patterns.
Nachoff has always loved film and animation: his compositions are very expansive and cinematic in scope and lend themselves well to a creative visual. For his critically acclaimed 2019 album Path of Totality (Whirlwind Recordings) he commissioned six filmmakers to create six original short movies inspired by the music. This fruitful collaborative experience inspired Nachoff to develop Patterns In Nature and invite four of the filmmakers to participate in this new endeavor.
www.annebealanimation.com
Anne Beal is an animation artist, filmmaker, and arts educator. Her animation has been featured at international festivals and exhibitions including the Annecy International Animation Festival, London International Animation Festival, Chicago International Film Festival, Brazil’s Festival of Electronic Language, and dozens more.
In her work she explores the concepts of Play, female empowerment, and mental health using experimental animation and sound. She often works in watercolors and acrylics, painting on paper and in books. In her teaching practice, she encourages students to develop their voice using experimentation. Anne believes jumping into new mediums and software courageously, learning to mute one’s inner editor, and focusing on problem-solving, is a wonderful way to learn.
Anne taught animation in the Film/Video/New Media/Animation department at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) from 2014-2017. She’s an alumnus of the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) and recipient of the John A. Chironna scholarship for creative excellence. She has been been awarded artist residencies at the MacDowell Colony and the Corporation of Yaddo in support of her current animated short film, ‘This Is Not For You’ examining the default male voice in medical books through paint and puppets. She currently teaches animation and sound at the School of Visual Arts.
Alongside her other projects, Anne is developing a watercolor animation and jazz orchestra collaboration with composer, Christopher Zuar, called ‘Tonal Conversations.’ The first iteration of the piece premiered at 150 Media Stream, a sculptural video art installation in downtown Chicago, from October 2018 through January 2019. The project will premiere its second volume in 2021.
leehutzulak.com
Lee Hutzulak’s interest in making video started in the early 90s at art college, shooting 8mm film and Video 8 for his recording project/band Dixie’s Death Pool. A couple decades later, with the advent of affordable, powerful personal computers, tiny digital video cameras and Youtube as a platform, a return to the medium felt relevant. Since 2008 he has put up hundreds of videos on YT. While most are simple documents of live music performance, some incorporate additional footage shot by Lee and special fx using both software and real world, physical techniques. Some pieces, like the video for “Bounce”, are companion works of art using composition, movement, light, colour and texture to echo elements in the music. Check out his Leisure Thief channel on YT.
www.gitablak.com
Željka Blakšić AKA Gita Blak is an interdisciplinary artist and educator who works with performance, 16mm film, video, and installation. She was born in Zagreb (ex-Yugoslavia) and is currently based in New York City. Her work often stems from the subculture of the 1990s-era in Croatia, when punk, anarcho and eco movements were having a renewal. Resistance manifested itself through the cooperation and gathering of different alternative social groups. This experimental environment became a university of rebellion–a key force, giving voice to new expressions of democracy, justice, common values and free speech. Blaksic often collaborates with members of different subcultures, activists, schoolgirls, singers, urbanists, and students, creating sites and praxis of collectivity. Using pedagogical methodologies within the context of contemporary art she organizes workshops, creates publications, makes films and exhibitions.
Recent exhibitions include “It Won’t Be Long Now, Comrades!” curated by Inga Lāce & Katia Krupennikova at Framer Framed in Amsterdam; “The Witnessing Event” curated by Rashmi Viswanathan at Los Sures Museum in NY; “BROUHAHA” project at Recess SOHO; “Claim Space” performance at Museum of Modern Art, NY; Artizen Cluj, Romania; BRIC Contemporary Art Gallery, NY; Gallery Augusta, Helsinki; District Kunst- und Kulturförderung, Berlin; AIR Gallery, NY; Active Space, NY; Urban Festival in Croatia; Gallery of SESI, Sao Paolo, Brazil; The Kitchen, NY and The Khyber Center for the Arts in Canada. She was a recipient of the Residency Unlimited & National Endowment for the Arts Award 2017, New York USA; Cittadellarte – Fondazione Pistoletto Residency 2017, Biella, Italy; MuseumsQuartier Program/ Q21 2017, Vienna, Austria; Recess Session commission 2016, New York USA; A.I.R. Gallery Fellowship Program for emerging women artists 2014/15, New York USA; The District Kunst Award 2013, Berlin; New York Foundation for the Arts Residency 2012, Paula Rhodes Award 2010, New York USA, and many others. Most recently she was a resident at Alserkal Avenue in Dubai, UAE.
udoprinsen.com
Udo Prinsen (The Netherlands, 1974) started his career as an animation designer. Having learned many tricks of the trade at Rocketship Animation in Vancouver, Canada late 90’s, he started working as a creator of identity for television and film.
In 2000 Prinsen moved to England for The Bristol Animation Course, which was set up by Aardman Animations, the creators of Wallace & Gromit and Chicken Run. He spent a year in England working for Phew TV!/BBC Education and other production companies and always worked on independent projects on the side.
His short film Audition was created with the musical help of Eric Vloeimans and Martin Fondse. Audition has led to many more short films, educational publications and art projects like the musical film Into Spring, which was made in collaboration with Han Bennink and LOOK! a short film inspired by Dutch Sign Language.
More recently Udo is exploring different ways of (visual) storytelling. Examples are the audio book Last Words in collaboration with Amsterdam Forest, Shapes of Time an exhibit, art book and musical show based on long exposure photographs created during a Dutch scientific polar expedition to Svalbard and Wood, a cultural exchange in wood design celebrating the friendship between the cities of Utrecht (NL) and Portland (OR, USA)
When Nachoff composed his Saxophone Concerto to feature himself and chamber orchestra (Turning Point Ensemble), he collaborated with Dr. Morris using data from one of his physical experiments of cracks slowly forming in mud. The data and imagery were used as inspiration for the second movement and parts of the third movement of the Concerto.