Author: Debashis Sinha

Debashis Sinha's creative output spans a broad range of genres and media, from solo audiovisual performance projects and percussion on the concert stage to the interior spaces between 2 headphones.  
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radio performance @ banff centre and online

i will be doing a live radio broadcast/performance next friday @ the banff centre.  luckily, you can tune in online here:  http://www.radio90.fm/

my performance begins at 6:15 alberta time (see here to help you calculate your local time for those of you tuning in via internet).  i am as always very excited to perform this work, especially because i never know what it will be.  expect to hear field recordings from kolkata, folk music, street sounds, a track or 2 from my CD quell, and perhaps some music i have been working on here.  the banff centre has a long and illustrious association with radio art, and i am very pleased to be included on the list of great sound artists who have performed radio in the past.

tune in.

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brr in banff

well, i’ve been here about a week and half now, at the banff new media institute.  it’s pretty great, they are looking after me well, and i have 2 studios—one in the music building b/c its so quiet there right now.  and a key to the percussion storage!

the project, which was initally supposed to be about the harmonium, has shifted in focus conceptually.  i am concurrently creating a screening version and a performance version, and while it is a bit hairy trying to keep everything organized, i am feeling pretty good about both.  working in this way is going to be very useful for the future.  i am learning a lot about creating visuals and file management…..

i’m looking forward to presenting this project in the future.  stay tuned.

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gods on earth sept 3

perfect timing.  while i am away @ the banff centre, the video installation when the gods came down to earth goes live sept 3.  there is more information on the installation, created by filmmaker srinivas krishna, here.

it promises to be quite a startling and impressive installation.  audio will play every 1/2 hour from around 8 am to 11pm.

specifically for the audio portion, thanks are in order to john gzowski, who will do the final soundcheck for me.  also of course a big thank you to krishna for asking me to do it in the first place.

the installation is presented by the royal ontario museum’s institute for contemporary culture and the toronto international film festival’s future projections program.

please drop by and let me know how you liked it.

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skin in vancouver

just received word that skin will be programmed at cineworks’ group exhibition who will give up their distinctions? in vancouver in september 2008.  at the moment we are trying to figure out what form the work will take, but it looks likely that it will be a looping projection with the audio track on headphones, which is my ideal format.

update: the sound will be piped into the space.  skin will be looped and presented with another video by clint enns, prepare to qualify.  latest info is that this exhibition will be part of SWARM 2008, a festival of artist run centres in vancouver.  the festival and screenings will  be september 5 and/or 6.

the website and address is here.  if you are in the neighborhood please drop by.

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shruti @ harbourfront (update: with pix)

i have been selected for inclusion in the SAVAC group exhibition @ harbourfront centre, august 8-10.  a new audio installation, shruti, using binaural recordings of the tanpura, field recordings from kolkata, and sound from the harbourfront site itself, will be created for this event, part of the south asia calling festival @ harbourfront.

the exhibition is free and will feature some great art from artists tackling the theme of “re-generation”.

hope to see you there.

SAVAC website

Harbourfront South Asia Calling

UPDATE: here are some pictures from the installation.  a good time was had by all.

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sound symposium

i am at the unbelieveable sound symposium here in st john’s newfoundland.  they brought me here to install my sound piece kolkata garden.  we found a beautiful place near the “fluvarium”, in a clearing in a protected park.  it was really perfect.

i am meeting all sorts of interesting artists from a variety of disciplines.  check the website for some of them.  if you ever have a chance to get out here, do it!!!

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upcoming compositions: hindus, horns and hunks

the next few weeks will be, in a word, mad.  apart from gigs and rehearsals with maryem tollar’s toronto-cairo collective, leela gilday, ensemble polaris, and nadjiwan, i will be creating sound for a number of really great projects:

1. berlinale-approved maxime desmon’s new short someone is watching us;

2. a harbour symphony @ the sound symposium in newfoundland.  every day @ noon during the festival composers create a piece for all the ship’s horns to play;

3. when the gods came down to earth—the audio track for a video installation by srinivas krishna to be exhibited during the Toronto International Film festival.

oh, and i have to dj a party @ the sound symposium.  i hope they know what they are in for…..

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deep wireless

i’m at the deepwireless festival of radio art this weekend, as part of the performing quartet of myself, chantal dumas, andreas kahre, and kathleen kajioka. on tap are workshops and performances and live 12 speaker disseminations of radio pieces. i am particularly excited to see/hear tetsuo kogawa’s keynote speech and performance tomorrow morning. this festival is getting bigger and bigger, and the work of nadene and darren is really making this festival a major event in audio/radio art here in north america (and, dare i say it, internationally).

update sunday: attended tetsuo kogawa‘s lecture and performance at 9am this morning. i am completely blown away. it is rare that such a level of theoretical grounding and articulation accompanies such masterful artistic execution. or at least its rare that we get a glimpse of both sides. kudos to naisa (see link above) for a) programming kogawa san and b) creating a context for both of these sides of this amazing artist.

in other news, some media for my piece @ deepwireless can be found below.

video here (thanks to justin @ transom.org)

in performance:

tetsuo kogawa’s workshop:

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working

have been a bit off the radar for some time, but working hard, trying to catch up on the sound installation and the 24 hour video project while i wait for upcoming projects and grant results.

there is a boom/bust kind of cycle in the work process that can be very discombobulating. i wonder if it is the same for all self employed people (ie anyone running their own company/business) or if it is just that way for creative people.  the time to “play” and mess around is vital to creating, and yet i find that there is less and less time to do it.  or maybe i’m just not focused enough.  or still haven’t found the right/most optimum way of working.  or haven’t figured out the work/life balance.  or…..