Allison Tanenhaus, FREQUENCIES: A Crowdsourced Video Mural Celebrating Allston-Brighton
Allison Tanenhaus, FREQUENCIES: A Crowdsourced Video Mural Celebrating Allston-Brighton, Audio/visual mural
The project is a crowdsourced audio/visual mural that features the sounds and sights of Allston-Brighton, straight from the people who live, work, and play in this vibrant Boston neighborhood!
When was this piece created?
My collaborator Maria Finkelmeier and I have been working behind the scenes since May 2021, and the installation runs every night at the Harvard Ed Portal from 5–10 pm, November 4–February 28.
What is the story behind this piece?
Maria and I met at the Harvard Ed Portal in 2019 and began working on mini music videos once the pandemic hit as a way to maintain creative connections, despite our remote circumstances. We totally clicked with how experimental, collaborative, and multidisciplinary we could be together. Our next stop was “Project Daydream,” a super cool livestreamed musical installation she developed and performed with Tim Hall, featuring video projections I created for the occasion.
When an art call opened up at the Harvard Ed Portal, we knew it was the perfect culmination of our burgeoning co-practice. The Ed Portal has been an incredibly supportive partner in our project (special thanks to Eve Alpern and Philana Brown) and we are thrilled to be showcasing our biggest collaboration yet at the place where it all began!
What inspired this piece? Is there an outside element that influenced this piece (i.e. another artist, nature, a novel, a theory, etc)?
Maria and I approached the creative process with totally open minds; we didn’t have a distinct plan for how each track would develop, and instead relied on the source material to guide us.
Maria went first and a few community-provided clips inspired her right away: a video of a wild turkey in someone’s backyard, a bike wheel spinning, toddlers running at a daycare, a crosswalk beep, and an audio recording of a band warming up. She then experimented with ways to manipulate the sounds from these clips to make music, plus layered additional electronic beats and melodies, resulting in four individual sonic experiences.
Then it was my turn! Like Maria, I didn’t have a distinct plan for how the videos would develop. The goal was to create a cohesive, enjoyable experience for each track, with plenty of wiggle room for play and serendipity. Using glitch apps on my iPhone, I deconstructed and discovered hidden treasures tucked within each bit of media, amplifying colors, adding or accentuating motion, distorting perspective, synchronizing speed, and teasing out all new patterns and shapes.
Ultimately, the source material inspired us both—and we hope the results inspire everyone who sees and hears it, too!
Is this part of a series; if so what is the series?
We kicked off the installation in November with four pieces featuring synchronized video art and music compositions, all based on community submissions that spark joy from our everyday surroundings.
Our second round of community submissions process is open until December 15. Then we’ll create four new pieces, which will premiere in January. Anyone can submit their own images, videos, and audio recordings they collect in Allston-Brighton—even if they don’t live there—so we encourage anyone interested to take part.
To sign up, click here.
Explain/Tell us anything else you would like people to know about this specific work.
FREQUENCIES is commissioned by the Harvard Ed Portal and supported by a Transformative Public Art Grant from the City of Boston Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture, with additional support from LuminArtz.
Want to learn more about FREQUENCIES? Click here
Allison Tanenhaus | digital artist, graphic designer, cat person
Website: https://allisontanenhaus.com/
Instagram: @atanenhaus