No Sharps, No Flats 

MARCH 17 – APRIL 30, 2016

Curated by Alex Braden

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION

Transformer is pleased to present No Sharps, No Flats – a group sound-art show curated by Alex Braden, featuring over original compositions by local musicians, housed within a sculptural installation constructed from the fragments of thirty cassette-player boom boxes, created by Braden, Emily Francisco, and Adam Richard Nelson Hughes.

Unified solely in their musical key of C Major, the featured compositions phase in and out of harmony and rhythm through a collaborative and somewhat random orchestration by the sculpture and the user, making it nearly impossible for any listener to hear the same piece of music twice.

What begins as an experiment in harmony will end with a suffering of natural entropy, as the deck motors begin to slowly and gradually erode at varying rates over the course of the exhibition - the composition will distort and ultimately descending into dissonance with each play.

No Sharps, No Flats features music by (as of 3.15.16) : Alex Braden, Josh Braden, Ben Brown, Baby BryBry, Mark Cisneros, Dave Epley, Johnny Fantastic, Dan Gleason, Drew Hagelin, Jules Hale, Jonathan Howard, Aaron Hughes, Dave Klinger, Fiona Kohrman, Brandon Moses, Anthony Pirog, Xaq Rothman, Sarah Schaffer, Ben Schurr, Erik Sleight, Alex Tebeleff, Mary Timony, Mary-Victoria Voutsas, Louis Weeks & Justin Zamierowski

EXHIBITION PROGRAMMING

Opening Reception: Thursday, March 17,  6 - 8 pm

Performance by Alex Braden, Emily Francisco and Adam Richard Nelson Hughes: Saturday, April 9, 2pm

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Alex Braden, born in Detroit, earned a BFA in Sound Art from George Mason University. Utilizing sound in sculpture, performance, and installation, Braden has shown locally at Emerge Art Fair, Washington Project for the Arts, Artisphere, the Joan Hisaoka Healing Arts Gallery, among others. Alex is an alumni of Transformer's 2014 Exercises Program, and a founding member of Zerozero Collective. Braden currently lives and works in Northeast Washington, DC along with his painter–wife and collaborator Amy Hughes Braden. 

Emily Francisco is a sculptress specializing in the creation of interactive objects that generate sound. Born in Honolulu, raised in an isolated mid-western town, educated in Saint Louis and the District of Columbia – she is a former Artist in Residence at ARTISPHERE, and at Montgomery College. Her work has traveled internationally, and she has lectured at the Smithsonian Museum of American Art as part of the Luce Foundation Center’s Art + Coffee Series, at Webster University in conjunction with Sculpture City 2014, and as a Visiting Artist at Montgomery College. Emily also participated in Transformer’s Exercises for Emerging Artists Program contributing work for the Coda of Fermata, the region’s largest exhibition dedicated entirely to sound. She currently lives and works in the D.C Metro area.

Adam Richard Nelson Hughes is a mixed media Artist that specializes in Sculpture. His work explores the use of color and often takes a critical eye to the mythologies of pop culture and seeks to reveal the deceptions of popular imagery. Adam has shown work in galleries throughout the east coast and is currently concentrated on Video Installations around the D.C. Metropolitan Area. With a background in Industrial Design and Art History, Adam’s work is informed by both Art and Design principles. Hughes has been working with a Video Art Collective called Flower Boyz for the past year and lives and works in Washington D.C.

Image Credit: Alex Braden, Emily Francisco, & Adam Richard Nelson Hughes, No Sharps, No Flats (detail), 2016