Tristan Perich

The Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts

915 East 60th Street
Chicago, Illinois 60637

Tristan Perich returns to Lampo to present Noise Patterns, his new composition for sequenced 1-bit patterns of white noise, programmed for and performed by microchip. The work expands on his 1-Bit Symphony and tonal pieces for electronic circuits and acoustic instruments.

N.B. the code in Noise Patterns outputs random sequences of 1s and 0s. The “notes” of his “score” are then varying probabilities of randomness, ranging from the sound of white noise to sporadic, instantaneous pops, which Perich composes into rhythmic patterns. In a wave of 1-bit noise, the music is an investigation into the foundational limits of computation.

Artist and composer Tristan Perich (b.1982, New York, N.Y.) is inspired by the aesthetic simplicity of math, physics and code. He is best known for his constructions that explore the physicality of sound and the polyphonic potential of 1-bit audio, including his 1-Bit Music (2004-05) and 1-Bit Symphony (2010) that celebrate the virtuosity of electricity. Neither release is a traditional recording. Instead, each is a music-generating circuit, housed in a CD jewel case with a headphone jack. Perich also has composed several works for musicians with 1-bit music accompaniment, and is in the music group the Loud Objects (with Kunal Gupta and Katie Shima), which performs by soldering its own noise-making circuits live in front of the audience. His award-winning work coupling 1-bit electronics with traditional forms in both music (Active Field, Observations) and visual art (Machine Drawings, Microtonal Wall) has been presented around the world, from Sonar and Ars Electronica to the Whitney Museum and Museum of Modern Art.

Tristan Perich first appeared at Lampo in October 2010, performing his 1-Bit Symphony.

Presented in partnership with the Smart Museum of Art at the University of Chicago; organized in cooperation with the Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts