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New York's East Village and downtown experimental music scenes of the '80s were the launching points for American composer/performance artist Joshua Fried. His recent collaboration with choreographer Douglas Dunn, Spell for Opening the Mouth of N, premiered at The Kitchen, New York, and was one of the highlights of the 1997 Lincoln Center-Out-of-Doors Festival. Fried has been re-mix producer for They Might Be Giants, Chaka Khan and Ofra Haza; his recording Jimmy Because (with guest guitarist Fred Frith) was released by Atlantic Records. Fried is a recipient of numerous fellowships and awards including a 1994 National Endowment for the Arts Composer's Fellowship (USA), a 1995 New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship in Emergent Forms and artist residencies at MacDowell, Yaddo and the Bellagio Center (IT). Fried's work has been presented at Lincoln Center, Bang On a Can, La MaMa and Dixon Place in NYC, as well as in LA, Chicago, Berlin, Paris, Tokyo, Amsterdam, Warsaw, Prague, Copenhagen and elsewhere.
Fried is known for turning technology on its head, challenging its assumptions, while using machines to accentuate the raw human qualities of live events that are unique to the moment. His work partakes equally of minimalism and the rhythmic experimentation of Nancarrow and his followers, as well as contemporary performance art, dance rhythm and sound processing techniques. Fried is also known for his invention The Musical Shoes, four ordinary shoes mounted upside-down on stands and plugged into electronics which are activated by striking the shoes.
Continue >> (This feature includes sound extracts from Joshua Fried's work)
Copyright © 12 February 2000 Jeff Talman, Saratoga Springs, NY, USA