David Whalen
"Setting Down the Pen and Brush -
Breath Empowered Art -
Digital Paintings using Breath and Head Motions''
Reception: July 2, 5-7 pm
On view throughout July and August
Setting Down the Pen and Brush: Breath Empowered Art from Deep Listening Institute on Vimeo.
ARTIST STATEMENT
Welcome to this exhibit and thanks for taking time to explore it:
Here is a collection of a few drawings over a few years. The very first one is a very crude little rabbit trapped in a jail cell. “1rabbit.jpg” was the start of trying to do painting with breath control. It was all about frustration having spinal cord injury quadriplegia in 1981 and wanting to play music in the years that followed and working on controllers play music. I’ve included some music from myself as well as my very good friend Tobias from Düsseldorf, Germany, who has muscular dystrophy and who I consider a master of music with the Jamboxx. I would also like to credit and thank Ruud Van Der Wel for his tremendous work on the ‘Magic Flute’ http://sites.google.com/site/windcontroller/gazette and the MyBreatMyMusic Foundation whose enduring support have made many aspirations in music and art possible.
The art is based on the breath-driven adaptive joystick called the Jamboxx [www.jamboxx.com] for people with high levels of disability such as a quadriplegia. It's become very useful in exploring the non-traditional digital art medium which provides so many different accessible features for persons with disabilities to explore as well as a new hands free harmonica styled midi harmonica.
Software such as Artrage provides a number capabilities for people with disabilities to explore the visual arts. These capabilities include introducing techniques such as changing scale, rotation, shading, layering, independent setup and dozens of other readily available program features reduce fatigue and allow for full participation in the world of visual arts despite limited movement. Use of breath and head movement provide an alternative for the pen and the hand.
Along with some of the paintings we have included live demonstrations that have been designed to be brief and emphasize that within just a few minutes energy can be translated and coordinated and harnessed for artistic endeavor with breath and head movements. Persons with high levels of disability may find some use in the strategies and adaptive tools demonstrated in the pursuit of this style of art. Best wishes and thanks for reviewing the exhibits.
David Whalen lives in Glenville New York and has been working on musical instruments for people with disabilities since about 2004. Whalen started working on utilizing a harmonica for respiratory therapy. Eventually he started working on the Magic flute in 2006 and started work on the JamBoxx after that. Davis has worked as an attorney with the New York State office of Court administration. For more details: jamboxx.com
OPENING RECEPTION WITH LIVE PERFORMANCES BY DAVID WHALEN
DEMONSTRATION OF JAMBOXX WITH ARTRAGE SOFTWARE BY DAVID WHALEN
