The performance and installation collective MSHR (Brenna Murphy and Birch Cooper) present a new instantiation of Solar Helix, an interactive system in which two visitors control sound and light within a mysterious, ritualistic physical setting. Participants patch themselves into an electronic circuit by removing their shoes, standing on metal contact platforms and touching each other’s skin. In so doing their bodies become musical interfaces, mutually guiding the sound by allowing the current to flow between each other.
Brenna Murphy creates installations composed of sculpture, prints and other media that also exist as unique objects. She starts by designing 3D models using modeling/rendering software, using a repetitive, generative, scalable vocabulary of forms. Prints and sculptures are produced in a variety of materials, from paper and wood to plastics, using 3D printers, CNC routers and laser cutters. Brenna Murphy also performs with artist Birch Cooper as part of the collective MSHR, often using her installations (in whole or in part) as a performance platform for MSHR’s ritualistic sound/light performances.
MSHR (Brenna Murphy and Birch Cooper)
Solar Helix, 2012-2014
Mixed media (Plexiglass, wood, MDF, metal, conch shell, electronics)
Approximately 6 x 8 x 2 feet (1.8 x 2.4 x 0.6 meters)
Courtesy of Upfor Gallery