J.E.M. is a Los Angeles based artist, musician, educator and designer. He has carried out solo exhibitions in Ecuador and the USA, and has also participated in collective art shows in Ecuador, USA, Argentina, Colombia, Paraguay and Peru. Alongside his visual and audio artwork, he composes soundtracks for dance pieces, drama plays and frequently participates in rock and experimental musical projects.
Artist Location: North Hollywood, CA
Social Media:
PARTICIPATION
Virtual Breakout During the Outbreak June 6th Livestream
Carlos (Roof/Techo)
Proposed work as accepted for soundpedro 2020:
Techo/Roof
This piece reflects about two worlds: up and down, north and south, legal and illegal. One speaker hanging from the ceiling plays extracts from an interview (in Spanish) I recorded in Tijuana, Mx to a young Mexican named Carlos who have crossed the border illegally many times, and who survived on the “other side” working as a roofer. He talks about the dangers of crossing the border and living in a foreign country with out papers. A different speaker, placed on the floor plays a field recording of construction workers building and fixing a roof in Los Angeles. Two sound sources playing in different planes, recorded at different times, and locations but creating one single scene. Sometimes one speaker will not play anything, and only one source will be audible, in some other occasions both sources will play at the same time, creating a cacophony, where details are, probably, hard to discern.
Hisspanic
Hiss:
1. A sharp sibilant sound similar to a sustained s.
2. An expression of disapproval, contempt, or dissatisfaction conveyed by use of this sound.
v. hissed, hiss·ing, hiss·es
v.intr.
To make a hiss: The audience booed and hissed. The teakettle hissed on the stove.
v.tr.
1. To utter with a hiss.
2. To express (a negative view or reaction) by uttering a hiss: The audience hissed its displeasure.
Hisspanic (Lo he perdido) -2015-present- is an ongoing sound piece using the word “Hispanic”, sampled from a Fox News report about increase of violence against Hispanic population in the U.S. and significantly stretched in order to create a drone like atmosphere that last about 15 minutes. This sonic atmosphere is occasionally disturbed by other found sounds from the same report or by the same sample played at a different rate. From far away, this artwork sounds like an amplified hiss sound from a malfunctioning speaker.