2010, USA, video, colour, music by Al Margolis (If, Bwana), 15 min.
Frogfields is an exploration of video voltage-controlled by audio processed via a Sandine synthesizer produced in the context of a residency Liberovskaya and Margolis did at the Experimental Television Center in Owego, NY, in the spring of 2010. The frog footage was shot at the Bronx zoo in 2009.
Katherine Liberovskaya is a video/media artist based in Montreal and New York. Involved in experimental video since the 80s, she has produced numerous videos, video installations and performances shown at various events and venues around the world. Since 2001 her work predominantly focuses on collaborations with composers and sound artists notably in live video+sound performance where her live visuals seek to create video+improvisatory "music" for the eyes. Frequent collaborators include Phill Niblock, Al Margolis/If, Bwana, Zanana, Kristin Norderval, Hitoshi Kojo, David Watson, David First and o.blaat (Keiko Uenishi). Recent projects have involved: Leslie Ross, Shelley Hirsch, Chantal Dumas, Richard Garet, Dorit Chrysler, Emilie Mouchous, Erin Sexton, Corinne Rene and Philippe Lauzier.
Concurrently she curates and organizes the Screen Compositions evenings at Experimental Intermedia, NYC, since 2005 and the OptoSonic Tea series at Diapason, NYC, since 2006. She recently completed a PhD in the Study and Practice of Art entitled Improvisatory Live Visuals: Playing Images Like a Musical Instrument" at the Université du Quebec in Montreal (UQAM).
Al Margolis has performed and recorded under the name If, Bwana since 1984, making music that has swung between fairly spontaneous studio constructions and more process-oriented composition. He is known as an activist of the 1980s American cassette underground through his cassette label Sound of Pig Music, and is the co-founder of experimental music label Pogus Productions. Margolis is label manager for Deep Listening, XI Records, and Mutable Music; plays bass guitar in the legendary punk/post-punk band Styrenes; and continues his work as If, Bwana. He has recorded and/or performed with Pauline Oliveros, Ione, Joan Osborne, Monique Buzzarté, Adam Bohman, Ellen Christi, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Jane Scarpantoni, Ulrich Krieger, David First, and Dave Prescott, among others. Recent projects include a duo with Tom Hamilton (electronics and objects), a laptop duo with Doug Van Nort, and a violin/bass duo with James Ilgenfritz.
He has been collaborating in live performance and audiovisual projects with video artist Katherine Liberovskaya since 2003.