SURGE LIVE: free103point9 & rhizome present 31 Down, Angel Nevarez, NYSAE and HSDOM March 28, 2006

free103point9 and Rhizome are pleased to present Surge Live at Participant, Inc. A reception to celebrate Surge an online exhibition exploring the aesthetics of wireless transmission. With presentations by several of the featured artists: 31 Down, Angel Nevarez, and NYSAE (New York Society for Acoustic Ecology).

At this one-night event and reception, all of the Surge projects will be on view. Angel Nevarez, 31 Down, and NYSAE (New York Society for Acoustic Ecology) will give brief presentations on their pieces. Join us for a reception at 6:30 p.m. and presentations at 7 p.m.

Angel Nevarez will present documentation of The Lowdrone. Made in collaboration with artist Alex Rivera, The Lowdrone melds the lowrider, a customized vehicle with hydraulics and candy coated paint, with the functionality of the drone, an unmanned aerial vehicle equipped with surveillance cameras that has been standard U.S. military fare since the ?60s. Initially commissioned for INSITE 2005/Tijuana Calling, The LowDrone is the world?s first flying lowrider, outfitted with wireless video transmission capabilities and conditioned for remote aerial flight. Through The LowDrone website, users are able to simulate flight over one of the most surveilled spaces on the planet: the U.S./Mexico border between Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico and San Diego, California.

Artists of the NYSoundmap project Andrea Williams, Edmund Mooney, Andrea Polli and Sha sha Feng will discuss their common fascination with sound and its relationship to natural and cultural environments. The NYSoundmap is an ongoing project by the New York Society for Acoustic Ecology (NYSAE), an organization dedicated to exploring the role of sound in natural and urban settings. The NYSoundmap focuses on the New York City sound environment and includes multiple recordings such as the webradio program Giant Ear))), a series of experiences called City in a Soundwalk by Michelle Nagai, an interface to access historical sound works called Protest Transport Celebrate by Andrea Callard and Sound-Seeker, a googlemap interface that allows visitors access to sounds recorded in the five boroughs of NYC. Later HSDOM (aka Jochen Hartmann) will create a live mix of the NYSoundmap sounds.

31 Down?s Mike Sharpie and Dr. Natasha Medvedenko will present their work the Somnambulator, a project that sets out to alleviate current manifestations of the Stendahl Syndrome, a psychosomatic illness caused by overexposure to beautiful art named after the French writer Marie Henri Boyle (1783-1842). Here, the artists ironically assert, this syndrome may be incurred by the visual content of the web; and offer the Somnambulator as an antidote. At this presentation, you will learn more about how living a Somnambulated life can increase your energy, vitality and desire for virtual freedom.