Joe Colley

Tone Field Flicker

Colley’s hotwired sound constructions – full of ominous electronic disturbances and caustic, noxious drones – belie a deeply penetrating, inquisitive bent and a willingness to exist on the cusp of chaos, or certainly to let go of a lot of control. Joe seems to prefer to set up situations in which interesting and often harsh sonic environments are created, birthed of a healthy dose of randomness; a fine example being his recordings of water being absorbed by dry clay, a recording swarming with compact and abstract sweeps of pops and gushes.

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For KYTN, Joe has created another such situation involving 40, maybe even 50 light sensitive oscillators, placed in a field of candles. As the candles are lit and the intensity of the light increases, the oscillators should respond by moving from pure tones into a harsher, distorted and high-pitched insectoid flutter, crackle and hum. As the oscillators are battery powered, small variations in the power supply, as well as drafts and eddies in space, should give rise to differing pitches and a whole host of interference patterns, beating and combination tones.