Artist Statement

Sound installation (2015)

Gain Stage is a kinetic sound installation that sounds out and shapes acoustic space in relation to a series of physical and mechanical tableaus. Each tableau focuses on a single device or object that involves a process of mechanical amplification or motion. The movements in each tableau are amplified so that their sounds are heard in varying combinations from speakers that are spread throughout the space. The sounds are processed to produce an elliptical relationship between the tableau and the sound of the movements it shows: they are filtered or delayed, and often heard at a distance. This processing changes over time, so that as each tableau unfolds, the sounds associated with it move in and out of acoustic focus. The title comes from the technical term for electronic signal amplification. Here it refers both to the forms of mechanical amplification on display and describes the situation of the piece itself as a platform for multiple experiences of gain staging.

• Ed Osborn works with many forms of electronic media including installation, video, sound, and performance. He has received grants from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Creative Work Fund, and Arts International and been awarded residencies from the DAAD Artists-in-Berlin Program, the Banff Centre, STEIM (Amsterdam), and EMPAC (Troy, NY). He has presented his work at SFMOMA (San Francisco, CA), the singuhrhörgalerie (Berlin, Germany), Artspace (Sydney, Australia), ZKM (Karlsruhe, Germany), Kiasma (Helsinki, Finland), and MassMOCA (North Adams, MA), He is on the faculty of the Visual Arts Department at Brown University (Providence, RI, USA).

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