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| Sound for Cities Sound for Cities is a series that seeks to make aural connections between the architecture, history, and everyday life of a city by manipulating sounds that already exist. | |||||
 Train 5:30 min. voice excerpt (German Translation) To be presented in Graz, Austria, in 2011 A multi-speaker immersive cinematic sound environment, which explores my understanding of and connection to the German language through my relationship with my Yiddish-speaking grandparents, as well as through other personal experiences. This work deals with stereotypes and Hollywood (mis)representations, using sonic textures, and ultimately it explores the affinities between the two languages. Installation includes multi-speaker recording that places the gallery visitor in an ethereal dreamlike, filmic aural environment. The recordings evoke a train ride pierced by minimal, sporadic voices—two German speakers, one male and one female and two Yiddish speakers one male and one female. In the middle of the room is a bench, which serves dual purposes: to allude to the experience of sitting on a train and to direct the listener into the ideal listening position within the gallery. Seven small speakers are evenly placed on the walls of the space approximately six feet above the floor and facing the bench, up to four small speakers may hang from the ceiling approximately seven feet above the floor; one subwoofer for low frequency output will be placed under the bench. |
Köln Kaddish Prenning, Austria, July-Nov 2009 Landhaus Feuerloscher 5.1 channel audio installation with description/proposal for the city of Cologne The piece proposes to coordinate Cologne's church bells to perform the Jewish prayer for the dead and for peace, the Kaddish. While church bells are used to relay messages of both religious and political importance in a city, they also tend to disappear into the background of the lives of its inhabitants, becoming to some extent insignificant. By manipulating sounds and imbuing them with or highlighting their inherent cultural significance, the work aims to arouse an awareness of the environment and its history in a manner that is perhaps more often attained through visual means. |
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 Soap at MOCA LA MOCA, June 2010 45-hour ambient sound composition that was played through speakers on the side of the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art for 3 weeks for the general public. The work was commissioned by James Franco to support a video composition that he created for an exhibition of his character, the visual artist “Franco,” in the actor’s final appearance on the soap opera General Hospital. James shot and edited to a split screen 45 hours of his rehearsal schedule as a performance work to create the video. |
Eyewall Installation and live performance Paintings and concept by Hannes Priesch Audio composition by Neil Benezra Dance performance by Holly Faurot & Sarah H. Paulson In "Eyewall," the artists Hannes Priesch, Neil Benezra, Holly Faurot, and Sarah H. Paulson examine the governmental response to Hurricane Katrina in the few days before and after the devastating storm hit New Orleans. A musical score of voice, acoustic instrumentation, environmental and human sounds, based on the partly censored documents of Michael Brown, Sharon Worthy, and the Katrina Advisory Board. A singer uses a control to shift the frequency of her voice into the lower ranges of male vocals. With these variables, the sound composition builds into a structured composed and improvised crescendo. |
| Architectural Renderings Architectural Renderings is a series of video and mixed-media collaborations with visual artists that begin with sound as the foundation from which the work's visual structure is built. These projects are intended to be visual and sonic interpretations of selected architects' work. Through a shifting mix of patterns and improvisation, layering and structuring, formal compositions emerge that are reflective of more classical and orchestral sensibilities. The theater or installation space becomes a sonic pictorial landscape. | |||||
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Calatrava 16-channel audio installation with 11-minute video |
Herzog and de Meuron (work in progress) |
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Square Off Spaces Gallery, Cleveland Ohio, 1998 |
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K.A.O.S. = Kinetic Amplified Organization of Sound Live sound performance–composer Neil Benezra |
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Spaces Gallery, with KAOS (Kinetic Organization of Sound), Cleveland Ohio, February 2005 |
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AC Project Room, with KAOS (Kinetic Organization of Sound), New York, New York, 2001 |
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The Gershwin Hotel, with KAOS (Kinetic Organization of Sound), New York, New York, June 2000 |
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Sound Off: A Series of New Sound Performances
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AC Project Room, April 2001 Curated by Neil Benezra |