Jack Straw New Media Gallery

Jack Straw Productions' New Media Gallery

Jack Straw Productions' New Media Gallery was opened in 1999 to support artists working with visual and installation art, with an emphasis on sound. Gallery residencies of up to 3 months are a combination of applicants from our annual call for applicants, and exhibits by invited artists. As part of their residency, gallery artists receive up to 20 hours of studio assistance with one of our engineers.

“YÍJÛ: songs of dislocation”

A multimedia installation by BYRON AU YONG
(with Chishan Lin, John Pai, and Lorraine Pai)

Jack Straw New Media Gallery: November 5 - December 30, 2004

Opening reception: Friday, November 5, 6pm

Artist Talk: Saturday, November 6, 2pm

Jack Straw Productions is proud to present composer and performer Byron Au Yong’s collaborative multimedia installation, “YÍJÛ: songs of dislocation,” offers a poetic evocation of migration and travel, and an homage to his ancestors. The exhibit opens on Friday, November 5, 2004, with a reception at 7pm at Jack Straw Productions. Au Yong and his collaborators will be giving a talk on the following Saturday, November 6, at 2pm. These events are free and open to the public.

“YÍJÛ: songs of dislocation” reveals composer Byron Au Yong’s personal reflections about his family’s forced migration from China. Created with filmmaker Chishan Lin, media installation artist and photographer John D. Pai, and landscape architect Lorraine Pai, this installation transforms the Jack Straw New Media Gallery into a musical and visual sanctum that provokes visitors to think about migration and reflect upon travel.

Motivated by the regret of never learning music from his grandfather, a musician and teacher in China, Au Yong devotes this installation to constructing songs of memory and imagination fueled by his feelings of inheriting a broken lineage caused in part by the movement of being an American artist.

You can find more information regarding this installation at http://yijusongs.blogspot.com

Read a review from the Northwest Asian Weekly at http://www.nwasianweekly.com/ and from The Stranger at http://www.thestranger.com/current/score.html

Primarily a composer of acoustic music theater that crosses aesthetic and cultural boundaries, Byron Au Yong has collaborated with Taiwanese American filmmaker Chishan Lin to document his paternal grandparent’s 70th wedding anniversary held in Seattle in 2003. Close-up images of Au Yong’s grandfather in a nursing home and Lin’s father flash between the anniversary footage. The music rides the space between dreams and death. Media installation artist John D. Pai and landscape architect Lorraine Pai create a fractured garden for the audio and video components.

Music for the installation was created in collaboration with performers Karen Akada–voice, chopsticks; Byron Au Yong–voice, er-hu, opera gong, water gong, paper, cymbals, fabric; Marc Collins–water gong, string bass; Marc dela Cruz–voice, chopsticks; Jessika Kenney–voice, cymbals, fabric; Gina Sala: voice; Aiko Shimada–voice; James Whetzel– voice, gong, paper; Steve Ditore–sound engineer; and Aaron Jafferis–lyrics; Frederick Sauter–lyrics.

Jack Straw Productions thanks the Paul G. Allen Charitable Foundation, ArtsFund, the Mayor’s Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs, the 4Culture King County Lodging Tax, the Washington State Arts Commission, the National Endowment for the Arts, and our individual contributors for their vital sup ort of our programs and services.

Return to the Jack Straw New Media Gallery

Jack Straw Productions