The Text of Light group was formed in 1999 with the idea to perform improvised music to the films of Stan Brakhage and other members of the American Cinema avante garde of the 1950s-60s (Brakhage's film 'Text of Light' was the premiere performance and namesake of the group).

The original premise was to improvise (not 'illustrate') to films from the American Avante-Garde (50s-60s etc), an under-known period of American filmic poetics. Members of the group include Lee Ranaldo and Alan Licht (gtrs/devices), Christian Marclay and DJ Olive (turntables), William Hooker (drums/perc), Ulrich Krieger (sax/electronics), and most recently Tim Barnes (drums/perc). Various combinations of these players attend 'Text' gigs, depending on individual schedules, so the group takes on various permutations---sometimes all members participate, sometimes not.

To date the group has performed with the following films: Brakhage's Text of Light, Dog Star Man, Anticipation of the Night, Songs; Harry Smith's Mahagonny outtakes, Oz-The Approach to the Emerald City, and Late Superimpositions.
The group has headlined the Victoriaville Music Festival, Canada (2002); Three Rivers Film Festival, Pittsburgh; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; and have done 2 tours of Europe to date, as well as performing in New York City and other USA club and cinema venues.

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The Loud Objects set sail for a feral reimagination of circuit bending. Loftily wielding soldering irons against a ramshackle overhead projector, these heroic lads from New York City (Tristan Perich the composer, Kunal Gupta the programmer, and Katie Shima the architect) wire up live musical circuits and gerrymander lo-fi electronic noise. The first few minutes are characterized by bleak silence as the loud objects swiftly assemble an initial circuit; thereafter a lush and percussive poetry overwhelms the arena as the trio heroically hacks microchips into a beastly swarm of 1-bit noise. These maneuverings are projected physically from the smokiness, hulking beyond the performers, gargantuan spectres stripped from the pillars of antiquated technology to their lurid and noble spirit.

The Loud Objects first performed as Columbia University undergraduates in 2005, and have since seanced in Germany, Japan, Italy (Screen Music 2), Norway (Piksel), across the USA (including NIME and Blip), and yearly at the Bent Festival. They have lead workshops at Columbia's Computer Music Center and Colorado College.

Tristan Perich is a composer, programmer, and electrophysical artist with a history in New York and Providence, a graduate of the ITP program at NYU after studying computer science, music, and math at Columbia University. His other works include 1-Bit Music (says Aquarius, "sounds like someone is in there pulling your speakers apart with rusty blunted shears") and machine drawings, and he has spoken twice at Dorkbot in NYC.

Kunal Gupta is a musician, programmer, and rapper with a history in New York, Providence, and Japan, a current student of the ITP program at NYU, after studying computer science and music at Columbia University. He's currently developing an online live hip hop campaign for Obama's candidacy starring MC Hammer called "Rap for Change."

Katie Shima is an architect with a history in New York and Los Angeles, a current student of the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture with interests in green building and sustainability.

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