the spaces contained in each

Steve Roden and Stephen Vitiello
CD in printed sleeve
edition: 500
room40
2014

these recordings began with a performance at the rothko chapel in houston for the exhibition called “silence”. at the time we tried to work with silent or quiet sounds, recordings or objects. we used LPs of 4’33” as well as an LP of the mime marcel marceau. a year or so later we were invited to create a new work via a residency at harvestworks, and we used, again similar materials, as the installation was in a chapel in governor’s island, ny – collaborating with a speaker system designed by paul geluso. the recordings and speaker also traveled to the the first international biennial of contemporary art of cartagena de indias#1: cartagena, cartagena de indias, colombia.

label blurb: “Steve Roden and Stephen Vitiello are sound artists working at the nexus of sculpture and acoustics. They are professional listeners, embedding themselves in the auditory and relishing that which is encompassed in their horizon of listening. It’s their shared horizon of listening then, that is at the core of The Spaces Contained In Each.

Recorded as part of their joint residency on Governor’s Island in New York, this edition documents their installation work created for the unique acoustics of the Cornelius Chapel. Like many of the recordings that populate their solo discographies, The Spaces Contained In Each, dwells in a zone of rich textural soundscapes.

Distant bells toll at the edges of perception, field recordings flutter amid bursts of modular synth and other electronics. The sound field is constantly evolving and unfolding as layer upon layer of sound draws you deeper into their sound space. Moments of hushed tonality break into explosive bursts of frequency, though at no time does the work break its auditory suspension of disbelief.

This collaboration sounds out new pathways into fields of sound well explored by each of these artists. It marks an accumulation of their works, both individually and as collaborators. Indeed, The Spaces Contained In Each, is an apt metaphor for the sounds presented throughout this edition.”