NSF:
Nous Sommes Fragiles
NSF: Nous Sommes Fragiles was formed in 2004 when Nell Tenhaaf and John Kamevaar realized their mutual interest in signal flow and a human/machine lexicon.
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Tenhaaf brings to NSF an interest in the biosciences and computer models of nature’s dynamics. These are embodied in interactive sculptures that incorporate low-resolution video, algorithmic functions and Kamevaar’s electronic sound.
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Kamevaar brings to NSF a noise aesthetic and a history of live performance. He started using non-musical sounds in the 1980s with his experimental sound group Kaiser Nietzsche, and has performed with the free improvisation ensemble CCMC for over twenty years.
Superimposing a working algorithm onto the river brings about a merging of machinic and personal time (time from a human perspective). The algorithm is a cellular automaton, whose individual cells “live” or “die” according to preset rules. Its action appears very synthetic and very organic at the same time - the marvelous thing about all cellular automata.
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The sound here was composed after viewing the video. It is not directly motivated by the movement, forms, or structure in the video, but its progression and density are a response to the energy in the images. The river itself, meanwhile, can’t be captured in any real sense but (maybe) goes on forever, always eluding stillness.
Interview with Nell Tenhaaf
