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The game.Sisyphus was an ancient Greek king who angered the gods by cheating death. His punishment was to push a giant boulder up a mountain in Hades, only to watch it roll back down every time it neared the summit.
Sisyphus 2.0 concentrates that struggle into a playful yet challenging interactive game. The six-foot steel sphere twinkles in the darkness. Two tones follow two rhythms. By turning the sphere, participants control the sounds and bring the tones into synch. Roll the ball. Unlock the puzzle. Dance to the music. Repeat. Startling in its simplicity, the work speaks directly to our very human experience of trial and error and measured success, achieved by deep listening and coordinating efforts among a group of players. |
The artists.
Melanie Armer
Lead Artist & Steel Sculptor
I am a theater director and steel sculptor currently living with my partner and our dog Kasper on eight acres about an hour north of New York City. Already an established bicoastal director, I began working in steel in 2009 when I needed a large scenic piece for a show I was directing. This grew quickly into an obsession with this material and a new way of expressing ideas in this larger scale. I apprenticed under Mike Roig, a sculptor whose work I deeply admire, and I began taking classes in NY and LA. I am deeply interested in the future of humankind. I believe that by making art we foster the kind of creative thinking in ourselves and others that can actually change the world.
www.melaniearmer.com @shaperofstageandsteel
Lead Artist & Steel Sculptor
I am a theater director and steel sculptor currently living with my partner and our dog Kasper on eight acres about an hour north of New York City. Already an established bicoastal director, I began working in steel in 2009 when I needed a large scenic piece for a show I was directing. This grew quickly into an obsession with this material and a new way of expressing ideas in this larger scale. I apprenticed under Mike Roig, a sculptor whose work I deeply admire, and I began taking classes in NY and LA. I am deeply interested in the future of humankind. I believe that by making art we foster the kind of creative thinking in ourselves and others that can actually change the world.
www.melaniearmer.com @shaperofstageandsteel
Stephan Moore
Sound Puzzle
Stephan Moore is a sound artist, designer, composer, improviser, programmer, engineer, teacher, and curator based in Chicago. His creative work manifests as electronic studio compositions, improvisational outbursts, sound installations, scores for collaborative performances, algorithmic compositions, interactive art, and sound designs for unusual circumstances. Much of his work has been realized in collaborative projects, most notably with sound artist Scott Smallwood in their duo Evidence and with choreographer Yanira Castro in the collective a canary torsi. He is the curator of sound art for the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts, organizing annual exhibitions since 2014. He is also the president of Isobel Audio LLC, which builds and sells his Hemisphere loudspeakers. He was the music coordinator and touring sound engineer of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company (2004-10), and has worked with Pauline Oliveros, Anthony McCall, and Animal Collective, among many others. In 2019, he co-founded the Chicago Laboratory for Electro-Acoustic Theater to promote and encourage the creation of multichannel audio works. He is a Distinguished Associate Professor of Instruction in the Sound Arts and Industries program at Northwestern University.
Sound Puzzle
Stephan Moore is a sound artist, designer, composer, improviser, programmer, engineer, teacher, and curator based in Chicago. His creative work manifests as electronic studio compositions, improvisational outbursts, sound installations, scores for collaborative performances, algorithmic compositions, interactive art, and sound designs for unusual circumstances. Much of his work has been realized in collaborative projects, most notably with sound artist Scott Smallwood in their duo Evidence and with choreographer Yanira Castro in the collective a canary torsi. He is the curator of sound art for the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts, organizing annual exhibitions since 2014. He is also the president of Isobel Audio LLC, which builds and sells his Hemisphere loudspeakers. He was the music coordinator and touring sound engineer of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company (2004-10), and has worked with Pauline Oliveros, Anthony McCall, and Animal Collective, among many others. In 2019, he co-founded the Chicago Laboratory for Electro-Acoustic Theater to promote and encourage the creation of multichannel audio works. He is a Distinguished Associate Professor of Instruction in the Sound Arts and Industries program at Northwestern University.
Christine Shallenberg
Lighting
Christine is a multi dimensional artist whose expression finds itself in song, dance, theater, lighting, technology and social practice. She is a Professor of Art and Technology Studies at School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where she previously studied. She also studied Theatre Arts at Illinois Wesleyan University. She is the former Lighting Director of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company and hails from from Batavia IL
Lighting
Christine is a multi dimensional artist whose expression finds itself in song, dance, theater, lighting, technology and social practice. She is a Professor of Art and Technology Studies at School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where she previously studied. She also studied Theatre Arts at Illinois Wesleyan University. She is the former Lighting Director of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company and hails from from Batavia IL
A prototype of the sphere was shown at The Garden of Sonic Delights, at Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts, in 2014.