Paul DeMarinis, "The Noise Signal - Three Technical Listeners: Watson, Marconi, Penzias"

Noise, the longtime companion of violent natural forces, rowdy underclasses, war and madness, achieved a new status as a signal within the regime of electrical transception. Several intertwining narratives emerge from the improbable casting of noise as a signal. Fidelity, certainty, disposability and discovery join their several hands in an undulating dance as technical listening supplants the ear’s habitual attention to voice, melody and natural order. Three figures, Thomas A. Watson, Guglielmo Marconi and Arno Penzias are imagined as listeners whose ears are connected to antennas of ethereal inspiration and whose feet are grounded by sundry economic and social forces. The verbal presentation will be accompanied by elements of live performance that draw noises from brute materials such as salt water, crushed and ground metal, electrical sparks and other unlikely carriers.

Paul DeMarinis has been making noises with wires, batteries and household appliances since the age of four. One of the first artists to use microcomputers, DeMarinis has toiled since the 1970's in the areas of interactive software, synthetic speech, noise and obsolete or impossible media. He has created installations, performances and public artworks throughout North America, Europe, Australia and Asia. He is a Professor of Art Practice at Stanford University in California.