One Hundred Smiles

One Hundred Smiles at ICA Boston, 2014; 
Proposal, Video Still in situ; Dimensions Variable, 9' 50” loop

I smile one-hundred times. Very happy. Recorded in real time with no cuts. The video is slowed down to emphasize subtle movements, differences, and expressions. The image is distorted to amplify colors associated with happiness and to make the image more abstract and expressionist. This is a picture of someone watching the video at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston.

full video:

Hex Game (stop motion reh.)

Hex Game (stop motion reh.), 2015; Video; Dimensions Variable, 1' 12”
 

A handful of hexagons and the diamonds that are a by-product of most efficiently filling space with the hexagons. A game played with the hexagons; moving one piece the distance of one face with each turn. Begins to imply and resemble Islamic pattern and design. Concretely symbolizing the infinite, and the uncentralized nature of creation. A few steps away from being turned into some kind of humane game, ideally multiplayer.

Perfect Circle Triangle Square

Perfect Circle Triangle Square, 2013; Hand-made Book; 11 x 8½ x ¾“

First, I ruled out a perfect example of a circle, a triangle, and a square in the exact center of a letter size sheet of paper. The base measurement of each shape was determined by the length of my hand from the wrist to the tip of the middle finger. I then tried to draw these shapes again but this time freehand – one of each, each day, for months. I was trying to draw them exactly the same size in the exact center of the paper, as in the “ideal” examples. After 207 attempts I copied the “perfect” shapes over my drawings. I was very close in some of them, in others I was way off.

Neon Upside-Down N. America rehearsal & Neon S. America Cloud rehearsal

Neon Upside-Down North America rehearsal at Clyfford Still Museum, 2014;

Proposal; Dimensions Variable, Approximately 108” x 84”

Part of a series of upside-down continents being deployed in different media, size, and presentation. A new idea for contemplating these landmasses.




 

Neon South America Cloud rehearsal, 2015;

Proposal; Dimensions Variable, Approximately 60” x 84”

South American continent, with no borders, is flipped horizontally, then rotated 90-degrees counterclockwise, presented high on the wall it resembles a cloud. Presenting a new way of conceiving of place.

NTP's Game of Life

NTP's Game of Life, 2015; Book, 11” x 8 ½ ” x ¼”

Drawing my monogram 31 times and running them through “Conway's Game of Life.” Then turning this into a book. Signature morphed into a petri dish or a simply-plotted map of a virtual world.

Four Stoppages (Extinct Megafauna) (Africa, Australia, Madagascar, North America)

Four Stoppages (Extinct Megafauna) (Africa, Australia, Madagascar, North America), 2013;

Lumber and Paint; Each 54” x 11¼ ” x ¾”

The green shapes are the disappearance of megafauna with the arrival of homo sapiens on each of four landmasses; from left to right: Africa, Australia, Madagascar, North America. In conversation with Marcel Duchamp’s 3 Standard Stoppages Dealing with a scale of time(millennia) and population/life rather than measure and meters.

Jumping The Shark

Jumping the Shark, 2014; Video, 2'38”

“Jumping the shark” is an idiom used to describe the moment in the evolution of a television show when it begins to decline in quality. Signaled by a particular scene, episode, or aspect of a show in which the writers use a ridiculous gimmick in an attempt to keep viewers' interest. It is a sign of desperation. In this movie I am jumping back and forth over Damien Hirst's The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living.

Amplified Pencil(s) prototypes

Amplified Pencil(s) prototypes, 2015; material variable, dimensions variable

Soundbox for a pencil. Primitive and analog form of sonification. These rehearsals are constructed of paper. The idea could easily be realized in plastic with 3D printing, or with thin wood like balsa/basswood. Further, the pencil/soundbox could have a contact/piezo microphone attached for even greater amplification and sonic potential.
In the first prototype the pencil is mounted to the soundbox, in later prototypes the soundbox can be removed and any standard diameter pencil can be used.

Three of the initial test drawings, created by diverse groups of 3 to 4 people, with widely varying degrees of drawing experience.
 

Distorted Guitar Solo

Distorted Guitar Solo, 2014; Hand-made Book; 11 x 8½ x ½”

A compilation of drawings from a set of made and found material exploring the idea of an abstract representation and enactment of a distorted guitar solo. The source imagery comes from: chladni patterns and cymatics, cross-sections of hair to represent the idea of long hair, multifarious waveforms, diagrams of the workings of amplification, shamanic diagrams of the three realms, planetary and galactic orbits, chemical compounds including drugs and metals, etc.

"Not Yet Titled"

"Not Yet Titled" (10/2014 & 12/2014 & 05/2015), 2015 (ongoing), Constellation of images on Wall; Dimensions Variable

Ongoing project, domestic permanent installation, reprised for exhibition settings. Constantly shifting, sometimes slowly and singularly, sometimes suddenly and completely. A private/public arena for testing ideas and experiments. Analog mimesis of a GUI environment.

Noah Travis Wild & Noah Chaos Phillips

Noah Travis Wild, 2011 – 2015 (ongoing); Blog & archival box, 11” x 8 ½” x 3 ½”

Album of images culled from studio practice; frottage, collage, drawing, painting, etc. Exploring the idea of the wild, nature, flora & fauna, wilderness, etc. Turned into an archival collection and blog presentation concurrently. Cousin of the “Chaos” album.

 

Noah Chaos Phillips, 2011 – 2015 (ongoing); Blog & archival box, 11” x 8 ½” x 3 ½”

Album of images culled from studio practice; collage, drawing, painting, digital, etc. Exploring themes of chaos, destruction, ruins, pandemonium etc. Turned into an archival collection and blog presentation concurrently. Counterpart of the “Wild” album. 

The Wayward Universe

The Wayward Universe, 2014;

Hand-made Book with Gouache, Honey, Milk, Semen, and Photocopy; 11” x 8 ½” x ¼”
 

Marcel Duchamp has a piece called Paysage Fautif (The Wayward Landscape), it consists of semen on plexiglass backed by black satin. Rather than just a wayward landscape I wanted to make an entire universe. Into a circular black void I gave birth to a universe with masculine material (semen), a feminine material (milk), a material to represent flora and fauna (honey), and a material to represent art (gouache). There are 30 pages, my age when making the book.

Primary Space Model (demo)

Primary Space Model (demo), 2015; lumber and paint, 14” x 14” x 14”

Model exploring spatial/architectural concepts of color and value in three dimensions. Scalable and able to be produced in a multitude of materials. Able to be collapsed and made compact for easy storage and transportation. Potential as prefabricated playground, dwelling, exhibition space, spatio-conceptual learning model, virtual object, etc.

Rainbows For My Wife

Rainbows For My Wife, 2013; Video; 7' 00”

Simple materials to sublime results. A very close-up recording of a piece of holographic paper. Primordial and magical, tactile and intimate. Eye-candy, ecstatic color play; visual indulgence, undulating, joyful, euphoric anti-forms. The aesthetic is easily translatable into digital forms of visualization and sonification.



duet version: