Fugue Zones, ost
- DeForrest Brown Jr.
- Steve Goodman (Kode9)
- Jeremy Toussaint-Baptiste
Western Front is pleased to present Fugue Zones, ost, a multi-channel audiovisual installation by DeForrest Brown Jr., Steve Goodman (Kode9), and Jeremy Toussaint-Baptiste, which embraces the multiple associations of the fugue as its conceptual point of departure. In this second iteration of their collaboration, the artists continue to engage a unique ensemble of consumer- and military-grade audio technologies designed for control, distraction, surveillance, entertainment, and force, asking: “What else can this do?”
This site-specific iteration foregrounds physical latency—the time between an action and its reception—within the architecture of the Grand Luxe Hall, its adjacent rooms, corridors, and streets, and across zones of anticipation, concealment, and exteriority. Walls cease to function as barriers, becoming instead enlivened and permeable. Exterior imagery is livestreamed indoors, while interior sounds are rerouted back into the space, revealing the mechanics of spectacle as a system of relation and abstraction.
Devices typically deployed by police for crowd control find subtlety through recontextualization, while subwoofers, repurposed from nightlife and sound-system culture, generate a new vibrational and affective architecture. Hyper-directional speakers carve the sonic field into discrete regions, as noise-cancelling headphones bloom into loudspeakers. This chimeric array of sounds and devices feeds back and folds in on itself, leaving a brief and immediate trace of its own uncanny doubling. By bringing together the artists’ distinct production practices and critical inquiries, Fugue Zones, ost offers an extended exploration of the subversive potential of materials and tools freed from their intended use value.
The work will begin at 15 minutes after the top of each hour, and is approximately 30 minutes in length.
About the Artists
DeForrest Brown, Jr. is an Alabama-raised, Ex-American, rhythmanalyst, writer, musician, and curator based in Vancouver, Canada. Under the moniker Speaker Music, he channels the African American modernist tradition of rhythm and soul music as an intellectual site and sound of techno-vernacular expression. He has released three albums on Planet Mu, and is the author of Assembling a Black Counter Culture (Primary Information, 2022).
Steve Goodman (aka Kode9) is a musician, writer and artist based in South London, United Kingdom. He is founder of the record labels Hyperdub and Flatlines, producer of five albums and numerous mix compilations. He is the author of Sonic Warfare (MIT Press,2010), and he co-edited the books Unsound:Undead (Urbanomic Press, 2019) and Sonic Faction (Urbanomic Press, 2024). His sound installations have appeared at Tate Modern and Barbican in London.
Jeremy Toussaint-Baptiste is an artist, composer, and performer based in Brooklyn, United States. His practice considers notions of errant relations which thrive across subjectivities. Toussaint-Baptiste is a founding member of the performance collective Wildcat!, and frequently collaborates with performers, dancers, and visual artists. He is often up to no good and trying to do better, at the same time.
Accessibility
The Grand Luxe Hall is located on the second floor of Western Front, which is accessed by a flight of 26 stairs.
What to expect: This sound installation features high- and low-frequency audio and is presented in a low-lit environment. Visitors may experience physical vibration, reduced visibility, and moments of sonic intensity. Ear protection is available, and visitors are free to move through or exit the space at any time. Those sensitive to low frequency sound or low lighting are encouraged to take care.
Further details about accessibility at Western Front can be found here.
Acknowledgements
Co-produced with Canary Test, Los Angeles with support from the Mike Kelley Foundation for the Arts Infinite Expansion Grant, and the Canada Council for the Arts.
Western Front is a non-profit artist-run centre in Vancouver.
We acknowledge the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ílwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations as traditional owners of the land upon which Western Front stands.