About Sara
Sara Dittrich is an interdisciplinary sculpture artist who builds introspective experiences that shift perspective from passive seeing to active looking, from passive hearing to active listening. Using musical thinking, Dittrich illuminates the dynamic and unconscious rhythms of the body and environments. The work is simultaneously gestural and architectonic: gestural in that it evokes the body’s expression in physical movement; architectonic, in that it occurs in a built… more
Turn of the Tide
Turn of the Tide is an installation/performance based work which draws on site-specific research conducted on the beaches of Cape Cod. Within the installation blue lights give the room a dim glow. One hears the faint tones of wind chimes and sees a large (approx. 13’ x 8’ ft.) custom curved wall in the rear of the gallery. On the wall a projected video of the Atlantic’s oceanic tide can be seen rising and falling, filmed from the Breakwater in Provincetown, MA. In front of the projection a performer is seated on a meditation cushion. The designated performer wears a wireless stretch sensor around their diaphragm. As the performer inhales, the tide in the projected video rises, as the performer exhales, the tide recedes. The surrounding space encourages visitors to sit and spend time in the space. The atmosphere is meditative and calming. When a performer is not present, the projected video is manipulated by the recorded data of a performer’s breath.
Turn of the Tide invites viewers to consider the authority of their own somatic experience, and renews awareness of our physical connection to the earth within the context of a rapidly changing landscape threatened by rising sea levels.
As the piece was developed over several months, Dittrich channeled her interests in the gestural and architectural aspects of music through an ecological lens. She has sought to compare rhythms of the human body with changing rhythms in the landscape, as a method to consider—and place within personal, felt experience—human relationship with the changing climate.
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Turn of the Tide"Turn of the Tide" is an installation/performance. As the designated performer inhales, the tide in the projected video rises, as the performer exhales, the tide recedes. Controlled in real time via wireless biosensor. Video timelapse filmed in Provincetown, MA. / Duration variable / 2019.
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Installation ViewInstallation using performer’s breath, stretch sensor, wireless transmitter, projected video on custom curved wall, meditation cushion, blue floodlights, speakers, amplifier, found audio, Arduino, Mad Mapper and Max software / Duration variable / 2019.
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Performer ViewInstallation using performer’s breath, stretch sensor, wireless transmitter, projected video on custom curved wall, meditation cushion, blue floodlights, speakers, amplifier, found audio, Arduino, Mad Mapper and Max software / Duration variable / 2019.
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Breath sensor (Detail)Installation using performer’s breath, stretch sensor, wireless transmitter, projected video on custom curved wall, meditation cushion, blue floodlights, speakers, amplifier, found audio, Arduino, Mad Mapper and Max software / Duration variable / 2019.
Going/Staying
Going/Staying is a performance/installation that uses long range bluetooth technology to send signals from pressure sensors in the artist’s shoes to a kick drum when the artist is within a 1 mile range of the drum. This technology enables an immediate real-time connection with no delay between the artist’s footsteps and the drum beating. The drum “plays” recorded data when the artist is not present.
The work investigates the unconscious everyday rhythm of walking. This awareness makes one more conscious of where they are and where they are going, and creates a new awareness and appreciation of these unconscious movements.
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Going/Staying"Going/Staying" is a performance/installation that uses long range bluetooth technology to send signals from pressure sensors in the artist’s shoes to a kick drum when the artist is within a 1 mile range of the drum. This technology enables an immediate real-time connection between the artist’s footsteps and the drum beating. The drum “plays” recorded data when artist is not present. / Duration variable / 2015-2017.
Arrhythmia of the Body
Arrhythmia of the Body is a series of twenty photographs documenting the artist's movements in a photographer’s studio while wearing a pair of absurdly large prosthetic hands and feet carefully crafted from papier-mâché and foam.
The clumsy and unwieldy prosthetics are designed to disrupt Dittrich's everyday movements in order to no longer take them for granted. Heightening the sense of these limbs and phalanges makes one not only care more for their body and its needs, but also their surrounding environment.
"We are only conscious of most of our rhythms when we begin to suffer from some irregularity."
—Henri Lefebvre, Rhythmanalysis
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Arrhythmia of the Body20 Digital C-prints / 8” x 10” in. each / 2015.
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Arrhythmia of the Body #16Digital C-print / 8"x10”in. / 2015.
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Arrhythmia of the Body #4Digital C-print / 8"x10”in. / 2015.
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Arrhythmia of the Body #6Digital C-print / 8"x10”in. / 2015.
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Arrhythmia of the Body #10Digital C-print / 8"x10”in. / 2015.
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Arrhythmia of the Body #7Digital C-print / 8"x10”in. / 2015.
Trio for Solo Contrabass
The continuous motion of the performers and unending sound creates a space to "just be" and feel present in the space. The work creates a moment for reflection on the communication and collaboration of the three bodies.
Projected life-size HD video (approx. 8’ x 15’ ft.) with 2-channel sound
Duration: loops indefinitely
Score for Room
This multimedia work recalls a range of historical precedents, from Allan Kaprow’s happenings and Alvin Lucier’s sound works, to the notational experiments of such Czech artists as Jan Sagl and Vladimir Havlik. Drawing on these contexts, Score for Room further investigates communal aspects of music creation, and aims to give a renewed awareness of the body to the viewer.
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Installation view at beginning of exhibitionWhite and black construction paper, contact mics, wire, amplifier, the accumulation of dust, dirt and movements over a 5 week period while installed in an office/gallery space / 41’ x 34’ ft. / 2017.
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Installation ViewWhite and black construction paper, contact mics, wire, amplifier, the accumulation of dust, dirt and movements over a 5 week period while installed in an office/gallery space / 41’ x 34’ ft. / 2017.
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Installation ViewWhite and black construction paper, contact mics, wire, amplifier, the accumulation of dust, dirt and movements over a 5 week period while installed in an office/gallery space / 41’ x 34’ ft. / 2017.
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View into the galleryWhite and black construction paper, contact mics, wire, amplifier, the accumulation of dust, dirt and movements over a 5 week period while installed in an office/gallery space / 41’ x 34’ ft. / 2017.
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Musician Benjamin Buchanan performing at closing receptionWhite and black construction paper, contact mics, wire, amplifier, the accumulation of dust, dirt and movements over a 5 week period while installed in an office/gallery space / 41’ x 34’ ft. / 2017.
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Room SchematicWhite and black construction paper, contact mics, wire, amplifier, the accumulation of dust, dirt and movements over a 5 week period while installed in an office/gallery space / 41’ x 34’ ft. / 2017.
Physical Arrangement for String Quartet
The music composition employs contemporary and experimental genres, as well as cinematic qualities. Buchanan also enacts a plethora of extended techniques, which are unconventional or non-traditional methods of playing musical instruments used to obtain unusual sounds or timbres.
The composition and choreography amplifies each musician’s body in space and in relation to one another while providing a playful and meditative atmosphere where the norms of musical traditions are defied in an absurd fashion. Over time, the musicians learn to adapt and collaborate from their new postures.
Physical Arrangement of String Quartet was performed as part of the collaborative exhibition Symphony of Gestures, created by Dittrich and Buchanan at the Urban Institute of Contemporary Art within the context of ArtPrize, an international art competition based in Grand Rapids, MI that attracts over 500,000 visitors in a three week period. Symphony of Gestures was an ArtPrize Seven Public Vote Top 5 Finalist in the Time-based category.
Full duration: approx. 10 min.
*Special thanks to Zachary Graft, violin; Jenna Michael, violin; Elizabeth Boyce, viola; Willis Koa, cello; and the Urban Institute For Contemporary Arts
**Footage courtesy of the More Art Upstairs documentary film and director Jody Hassett Sanchez
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Physical Arrangement for String Quartet (Excerpts)A performance choreographed by the artist using 2 violinists, 1 violist, 1 cellist, custom furniture fabricated by artist, and a custom composition by composer Benjamin Buchanan / Full duration 10min. / 2015.
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Physical Arrangement For String Quartet (Full Version)A recorded performance from the Urban Institute for Contemporary Art in Grand Rapids, Michigan from 2015. The custom furniture was fabricated by the artist Sara Dittrich.
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Physical Arrangement for String QuartetA performance choreographed by the artist using 2 violinists, 1 violist, 1 cellist, custom furniture fabricated by artist, and a custom composition by composer Benjamin Buchanan / Full duration 10min. / 2015.
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WillisA performance choreographed by the artist using 2 violinists, 1 violist, 1 cellist, custom furniture fabricated by artist, and a custom composition by composer Benjamin Buchanan / Full duration 10min. / 2015.
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ZachA performance choreographed by the artist using 2 violinists, 1 violist, 1 cellist, custom furniture fabricated by artist, and a custom composition by composer Benjamin Buchanan / Full duration 10min. / 2015.
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ElizabethA performance choreographed by the artist using 2 violinists, 1 violist, 1 cellist, custom furniture fabricated by artist, and a custom composition by composer Benjamin Buchanan / Full duration 10min. / 2015.
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JennaA performance choreographed by the artist using 2 violinists, 1 violist, 1 cellist, custom furniture fabricated by artist, and a custom composition by composer Benjamin Buchanan / Full duration 10min. / 2015.
Variations on Listening (Series)
Crafting the ears becomes a meditative tool for reflection, renewing our awareness of the role they play in our lives.
This series of works range in size from 8x8” to 60x60” in.
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Variations on Listening #1Polymer clay, embroidery hoop, fabric, thread / 25" x 23" x 1.5" / 2017
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Variations on Listening #1 (Detail)Polymer clay, embroidery hoop, fabric, thread / 25" x 23" x 1.5" / 2017
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Variations on Listening #2Polymer clay, thread, acrylic paint on panel / 20" x 10" x 1" / 2017
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Variations on Listening #3Polymer clay, acrylic paint on panel / 12" x 12" x 1" / 2017
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Variations on Listening #4Polymer clay, thread, acrylic paint on panel / 20" x 20" x 1" / 2017
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Variations on Listening #5Polymer clay, acrylic paint on panel / 60" x 60" x 2" / 2017
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Variations on Listening #5 (Detail)Polymer clay, acrylic paint on panel / 60" x 60" x 2" / 2017
Cadence
The piece can be performed in two variations. In a durational setting, such as a gallery exhibition, predetermined performers can sit with the drum for 30+ minutes at a time throughout the course of the show. Video documentation can be incorporated when performers are not present.
At an event with a set time limit, volunteers can be paired at random and instructed to sit with the drum for two minutes at a time while an audience watches the interaction of the two people’s heart beats.
Call and Response
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Call and ResponseWire, found double bass bridge, acoustic pickup, amplifier, speaker, ladder / Dimensions variable / 2013.
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Call and Response (Detail)Wire, found double bass bridge, acoustic pickup, amplifier, speaker, ladder / Dimensions variable / 2013.
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Call and ResponseWire, found double bass bridge, acoustic pickup, amplifier, speaker, ladder / Dimensions variable / 2013.
DOREMEFASOLATIDO
For the purpose of documentation composer, Benjamin Buchanan, has created and performed a short composition to demonstrate the installation.