Music For Seances

The Music for Séances: The Talking Board Series (or MFS for short) audio art project was first discussed with Clark Whittington of Artists in Cellophane (also known as A.I.C.) as part of his Art*O*Mat project in 2000 by one of the proprietors of the Sound-O-Mat audio studio who had done three short-run, limited edition series of pieces for the Art*O*Mat machines in the year prior. After over a year and a half of periodic research, a company was finally found that was able to make rectangular "Shape CDRs" which would just barely fit inside the standard cigarette pack-sized boxes that are provided by A.I.C. to artists to use to make or store are to be dispensed by the former cigarette machines. Art*O*Mat machines are vintage cigarette dispensers decorated and rebuilt to dispense small pieces of artwork either the size of or in boxes that match the dimensions of a pack of cigarettes.

The Music for Séances Project

Starting in 2002, once a suitably-shaped CDR medium had finally been found and approved by Clark by testing in his machines, the former Sound-O-Mat, now called "Sound-O-Mat Recordings" began producing a series of "audio art pieces" for the Art*O*Mat project, called "Music for Séances" (or "MFS" for short.) The basic concept was to model the entire package after a talking board, with the box and rectangular "Shape CDR" itself decorated like a board. This was to be the first and to date (3 Nov 2006) the only audio-based artwork available from an Art*O*Mat machine.

The concept was put together in part as a tribute as well as an interest as a hobby in learning about and collecting talking boards. The name of the project, "Music for Séances" was a nod to Brian Eno's classic album "Music for Airport", and is a series of ambient music releases by different artists which are meant to invoke feelings of mystery, discovery, and ceremony. Each package is decorated to look like a vintage Ouija-style talking board. Some are gothic and dark, others are light-hearted and silly. The project, along with the music selected, is meant to encompass all aspects of the diverse nature of the boards, and can be taken as "seriously" or not as the artist and listener desire.

The project was started with the goal to create thirteen (13) original pieces in two editions of 50, one set of 50 sold through Art*O*Mat machines, the other sold directly from the Sound-O-Mat Studio. For each collection of 50 Art*O*Mat pieces, there was an additional 51st copy made of all thirteen releases that is known as "The Invisible Talking Board". The "Shape CDR" itself is completely clear and all artwork is printed on a clear backing, and this one-of-a-kind additional piece was known as the "Magic Box" for each of the releases and entitled the finder, who could only purchase it through an Art*O*Mat dispenser, free copies of all the releases in the series as well a compilation CD of all the tracks from the series. To date, only two of these "Magic Boxes" has been found and the associated prize claimed.

The MFS boxes have been distributed by Art*O*Mat machines all over the country, including several famous places such as:

* The Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City, NY
* The Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, CA
* Whitney in Chicago, IL
* The Shop at the Cultural Center, Chicago, IL
* Contemporary Arts Center of New Orleans, LA
* Lane Community College in Eugene, OR
* Pop Deluxe in Madison, WI

The "Music for Séances" project, which took four years to complete, consisted of requitioning one-of-a-kind music tracks written to vaguely follow a theme. They were then edited and mastered at the Sound-O-Mat Studio and packaged in the style of one of many vintage talking boards, with the CD containing the song (which was limited to 5 minutes and 23 seconds or less in length) decorated as a talking board itself.

The following are bands/musicians who have had material released by the the Sound-O-Mat Studio, as part of the Music for Séances series.

# The Mystifying Oracle - " [http://www.discogs.com/release/149941 The Ceremony] " [MFS #1]
# Austere - " [http://www.discogs.com/release/134837 Coruscate] " [MFS #2]
# Future Guru - " [http://www.discogs.com/release/150687 Music for Bucky] " [MFS #3]
# In The Now - " [http://www.discogs.com/release/149944 ethervoices] " [MFS #4]
# The Nether-Carols - " [http://www.discogs.com/release/150688 Les Pons Du Waffles] " [MFS #5]
# Broken Gadget - " [http://www.discogs.com/release/149945 Ossip] " [MFS #6]
# Mystery School Ensemble - " [http://www.discogs.com/release/149946 The Art of Life] " [MFS #7]
# Numina - " [http://www.discogs.com/release/356200 Never Realized] " [MFS #8]
# Abstract Audio Systems - " [http://www.discogs.com/release/356203 Dark Fortune] " [MFS #9]
# Joe+N - " [http://www.discogs.com/release/368718Still Can't Spell Wee-Jee] " [MFS #10]
# Anomalous Disturbances - " [http://discogs.com/release/356237 Portent] " [MFS #11]
# Falling You - " [http://www.discogs.com/release/356238 Still Life] " [MFS #12]
# M. Griffin - " [http://www.discogs.com/release/733431 Enclosed in Wide Open Spaces] " [MFS #13]

External links

* [http://austere.org/oracle/seances.shtml The Music for Séances Home Page]