NELLY KATE — STUDIO ARTIST

Transdisciplinary practice centering access through sound, language, and the poetics of translation. 


CONTENTS

01 The Difference

02 nowisthe
03 Nevermind
04 FutureFluid

05 [Untitled] 6 Cylinders

06 I Hear You, But I Can’t Hear You
07 Transistors in Translation


STATEMENT

My work is about perception of place as shaped by the built environment and sound. Intersecting Queer, Deaf, Southern, and Hispanic culture I focus upon cultivating ecosystems of inclusion to make way for public imagination.

I blend responsive technology with lo-fi mechanisms like reel-to-reel tape loops, stop-motion animations, electronic synthesizers, and radio  frequencies. These tactile materials illuminate the terrestrial and electromagnetic phenomena which our bodies sense but cannot readily name.

Through multi-sensory installation I explore expanding time, breaking and remaking meaning, and conjuring ecstatic magic.


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H0ME BIOCV • ︎
NELLY KATE 07 — JAN 2022

TRANSISTORS IN TRANSLATION

MINT MUSEUM 




In preparing for this show, I wanted to pay homage to some of the devices and methods used by artists featured in the parallel film screening, Sisters with Transistors. The performance is comprised of long-form samples that were recorded and arranged using the following:
ARP 2600
• 6 transistor radios
• 20+ music boxes
• Korg Minilogue
• Field recordings
• Stereoscope & Marantz tape decks

Two of the mixes were dubbed to tape and two to captioned videos presented behind me on stage. These source sounds were presented with live vocals and tape loops. The performance was the live blending, affecting, and arranging of these elements. This approach lends itself to chance and improvisation, which are core to my work. The audience was invited to mask up and come up to the edge of the stage to experience the tape loop up close and discover vibrating pools of water, affected by the music. 


Music becoming simple as the wind—traveling everywhere. We are listening to each other. Maryanne Amacher



SPECIAL THANKS
Michelle Flowers, Nicole Driscoll, Jeff Jackson, Doug Davis, Scott Thompson, Brent Delventhal, Doug Jones, Annie Meyer, and my family.