Quran Karriem
Artist in Residence | June 2022
Quran Karriem is a musician, artist and writer working primarily with electronic and algorithmic media. His practice and research are each concerned with human improvisation and its influence on the development of computational decision systems. He examines the relations and ideologies that inhere in the design of processes and interfaces, motivated by a concern with the ways operative and recursive systems cross over into relational aesthetics and politics.
A multiple award-winning software designer and former product executive, Quran has led development teams for a number of media and technology companies and applies a decade of direct experience with systems design, data management and organizational structure in the context of ‘start-up culture’ to both social critique and artistic practice. He holds degrees in music composition, audio engineering and sound design. Quran formerly taught in the audio technology program at American University, and is currently completing a PhD in media theory at Duke University.
Enacting the Circle
Enacting the Circle is a participatory piece for 4D audio by Jay Hammond and Quran Karriem, with live 4D sculpting by Ian Wyatt. The piece combines a vibroacoustic attunement exercise, the synthball designed by Karriem and Rebecca Uliasz, and an improvised performance with Karriem on trombone, Hammond on electric guitar, and Wyatt on live 4D sculpting. The piece explores the relationship between embodiment and social structure in human improvisation.
Drawing from Hammond’s ethnographic research with participatory music communities and Karriem’s critical scholarship on improvisation and computational decision systems, the piece seeks to attune participants to practices of listening akin to those of improvising musicians.
June 10th, 2022
