Lee blalock + mocrep

Lee Blalock is a Chicago based artist, composer, and educator presenting alternative and hyphenated states of being through technology-mediated processes. Inspired by science fiction, futurism, and technology itself, the work is an exercise in body modification by way of amplified behavior or "change-of-state". She teaches technology at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

stereo test program no. 3: transmutation assessment (2018)

For Alex Ellsworth, Jenna Lyle, Ryan Zerna, Zach Moore, Lia Kohl, Nick Meryhew, flags, chalk, chalkboards, tape, contact microphones

A meditation, a diagnostic exam, a soundscape: Stereo Test Program No. 3: Transmutation Assessment examines the systems of the human body and mind. Inspired by vintage stereo test records which were used to assess audio fidelity, the piece superimposes variations of the original tests onto the human body to assess its systems while creating an original sound piece. Highly physical, the piece challenges 6 performers to a series of tests, interfacing them with both their spiritual and technological selves. The performers achieve balance through physical strain and emotional vulnerability. The live piece debuted in Chicago on Oct. 13th in the gym at Unity Lutheran Church on Balmoral in Edgewater. The graphic score can be found here. The live work is paired with a web project inspired by the programs notes and instructions that came with the original records and can be found here.

Photos by Michael E. Smith

Sy5z3n_1 (2017)

For Lee Blalock, Jenna Lyle, Lia Kohl, Alex Ellsworth, cymbal, midi keyboard, walkie-talkies

A meditation in the form of generative behavior, “Sy5z3n_1” embraces noise and fissure as a natural state of being for bodies living in the information age. The sound of one performer’s atomized breath incites the behavior of the others, metered by the pace of their own individual respiration. Four performers seek solace in actions based on a constructed system of sound, breath, motion, and suspension.Performed in response to the GO exhibit. Go, the second exhibition in the Art Institute’s Modern Series, explores how artists responded to different ways of experiencing and seeing the world in the accelerated modern age.