Jim Brown: Sound Activism — A Sound Sculpture

AMPHI Gallery is pleased to present Sound Activism, a live performance and evolving sound sculpture by Los Angeles-based artist and musician Jim Brown.

At the center of the work is a custom double-neck electric bass suspended in front of a sixteen-speaker sound system. Brown strums the instrument once at the beginning of the performance. From that single gesture, the vibration of the strings is amplified through the speakers, while the resulting sound waves cause the bass to vibrate in return. A continuous cycle of feedback and harmonic resonance begins to unfold.

The instrument gradually appears to play itself. The bass, speakers, architecture, and air within the gallery become part of a single resonant system, each responding to and transforming the others. Brown conducts this process by adjusting selected frequencies and shaping the emerging field of sound rather than performing a predetermined musical composition.

For more than a decade, Brown has…