Barry Whittaker | Unidentified Aerial Phenomena

Barry Whittaker / Unidentified Aerial Phenomena
Exhibition Dates: August 13 - September 6, 2024
Gallery Hours: Work activated from sunset to sunrise each day

ICOSA Collective is proud to present Unidentified Aerial Phenomena, 28 minute audio recording created by Barry Whittaker.

Humans have a history of hurling objects into space. Rockets, satellites, animals, humans, plants, and insects have all graced the skies above the earth. Beyond the occasional launch event where objects are lobbed into the air, signals are constantly beamed into space. Messages, images, and sounds are spread
across the electromagnetic spectrum, radiating outward to infinity. A gold-plated record and a Tesla with David Bowie’s “A Space Oddity” also float through the void, waiting for an audience. Who, or what, will be first to listen to our noises, and what will they hear? This project imagines the interstellar journey of the sonic time capsules carried by objects and waves as they float across the vastness of space.Barry Whittaker is a multi-media artist, designer, musician, and Professor of Art at the University of Toledo. He teaches graphic and interactive design and is a member of the Art in Public Places Committee of the Toledo Arts Commission.

As an artist, Whittaker explores mythology, language, miscommunication, cultural hybridization, and play through a variety of technology- and collaboration-based projects. In addition to museum and gallery
exhibitions across the world, he has created numerous works for outdoor LED screens in Denver, Colorado, has curated a Great Lakes Region component of the 2019 Supernova festival for display on a large outdoor screen in Toledo, Ohio, and has organized an annual exhibition of his students’ artwork on
digital billboards throughout Toledo since 2012. Whittaker has ongoing collaborations with Sam Sheffield, full-time faculty of Game Design at the Maryland Institute College of Art, creating interactive installations
and games under the name “SaBa,” 2D images and installations with Michael Bernhardt, Associate Professor of Art at Metropolitan State University of Denver, under the name “Barchael,” and performances and multi-media installations with independent artist Donald Fodness and Michael Bernhardt under the name “The DMB Collective.”

Whittaker has taught in the U.S., France, China, and Japan, and his work has been exhibited extensively across the U.S., Europe, and Asia. Selected exhibitions include: FILE FESTIVAL 2022 at the Galeria de Arte do Sesi in São Paulo, Brazil; ArtFarming a collaborative project with the Aichi Triennale in Nagoya, Japan; Hors Pistes Japon, organized by the Centre Pompidou and presented in Tokyo, Japan; Throwing Things at the Sky, which opened at 3331 Arts Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan; #TAGGING ART#, an exhibition and print project through Vision Magazine, Shanghai, China; Supernova Digital Animation Festival, Denver, Colorado; STROBE Network, at FLUX Factory, Long Island City, NY; and Playpublik at FORUM, Krakow, Poland.

A native Texan, Barry Whittaker received a BFA from the University of Texas at Austin and an MFA from the University of Colorado at Boulder. He divides his time between his home in Toledo, Ohio, and Nara, Japan.

Website:
http://barrywhittaker.com
Credits:
Barry Whittaker — field recordings, synthesizers, electric guitar, bass guitar, drum machines, percussion, text
Yuka Ueda — voice
Public domain recordings sampled:
Laughing Song (Especialidad de Risas) (Especialidade de Risos) – Henry Klausen
My South Polar Expedition – Spoken by: Lt. Ernest H. Shackleton
I am the Edison Phonograph – Spoken by: Thomas A. Edison
The Serenade – Herbert, Victor
Nasa Apollo 11 Recordings
Produced April 2022 while in residence at WORM/Klangendum Studio.