Swannatopia | December 2022

founded in 2019, Swannatopia is both a physical studio and an interdisciplinary collaboration. Members make use of light, sound, water, glass, porcelain, terra cotta, live plants, projections, reflections, textiles, movement, video, screenprinting, performance, etc to create experiential habitats and far out happenings as well as facilitate the free exchange of knowledge, experience, tools and materials.
In December 2020, they transformed their storefront studio in Historic Downtown Swannanoa,
NC into the “Swannatopia Department Store,”where visitors could shop for housewares,
chandeliers and fashions, peruse the “bolo buffet,” and get a greenhouse haircut in the
“Beauty Salon Of The Mind.”
In June 2021 they again opened their doors for “Marigold Daze,” a week-long marigold and
dolphin-themed happening which introduced the world to “Bannerland” and a new and life
changing multimedia attraction: “The Swannatopia Dolphin Experience”. Visitors were
treated to a “Rave” as well as live musical performances by Field Patterns and Avey Tare and
projection art by Abby Portner and sherbet floats at sunset.

In April 2022, they reunited with collaborators Daniel Abide, Byron Browne, Kaylee Dunn,
Christopher O’Leary, and Carley Dergins for the “Road Signs” installation at the Black
Mountain College Museum + Arts Center {Re}HAPPENING 2022.
Road Signs was an interactive experiment that explores the ways in which they search for
messages and meaning in the romantic notion of a road trip. Using imagery and sounds, from
symbolism to the non-sequitur, and transforming space through art, light, video, and
movement, they emulated the poetry in roadside culture and left the participants in a state of
wanderlust.
In May 2022, after a long incubation period, the “Swannatopia Experimental Art Club” was
finally hatched. My Terra Squirma invited members to build their own living sculpture out of
terra cotta and live and fake plants. The 8-week-long session culminated in a group
exhibition, with a “Plantwave” device on site to translate the plant biorhythms and
relationships into a sonic form, sherbet floats at sunset and live music. The current
installment of the club is stained glass and chandelier themed.

Brett Naucke | November 2022

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Brett William Naucke (b. 1985) is an American experimental composer and visual artist from Chicago, IL currently based in Asheville, NC. His work has been consistently focused on marrying an ever-evolving practice of synthesis to visual and conceptual narratives for both recording and live performance. In addition to releasing music on a wide variety of acclaimed international labels, Naucke has provided the original scores for several films, sound design for interactive gaming, and presented many works for multichannel audio and video installations.

His new work. “Room Without Time” was a living installation for multichannel audio and visual elements built over the month of November 2022 at The Residency at 82. Public viewings were held on November 30th, December 1st, and 2nd, to much acclaim.

Links:

www.bnaucke.com

https://brettnaucke.bandcamp.com/

IG @brettnaucke

Katt Naz | October 2022

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Katerine Nazareth Viloria Monagas better known as Katt Naz was born in 1989 in Caracas, Venezuela and raised in Miami Beach since she was two. She’s now become an emerging Visual Artist using her work to express emotion, self reflection, pride, intuition, mysticism, mother nature and climate change awareness. When creating anything, Katt likes to push boundaries while keeping a minimal yet elevated essence and incorporating up-cycled materials at every chance she gets. In 2018 her work was exhibited at the AFAS Center for the Arts building in Winston-Salem, NC and at the Pancakes & Booze group show in Little Haiti, Miami. Currently she’s part of a photography exhibit called “This Skin I’m In” which was shown at Revolve Gallery in Asheville, NC July-August 2022 and currently traveling to two other cities in the south during October 2022. This group show was curated to support and amplify the voices of the LGBTQIA+ artist community. Before making Asheville, NC her new home base in 2022, Katt spent 4 years immersing herself in Miami’s local art community and assisted various mural and installation artist’s in productions all over Wynwood and other parts of Miami. While gaining experience hands on in the field, she realized how powerful public art can be for the community and city. She’s now starting her new journey creating her own public experiences starting with her first installation called “Haus Of Hues”, an installation that is a collaboration with nature made to celebrate all colors of the spectrum. This installation was a part of the city of Asheville and Buncombe county’s new project “Art In The Heart” during the month of September 2022 in Pack Square Park. Her ultimate life goal is to one day own land where she can build a home for her family and an artist residency surrounded by nature that artists can go to relax, learn sustainable gardening and use up-cycled materials in creative ways.

Sarah Louise, Mini-Residency with Make Noise Music | September 26-29, 2022

From September 19-21, Make Noise’s fourth resident, Sarah Louise, will be making glorious sounds using a dual-Strega and dual-Shared System patch!

Our friends at Make Noise Music are hosting a series of mini-residencies this month. They are inviting a few favorite local artists to play with their gear, especially the brand new analog stereo oscillator, XPO. 

Check out Sarah Louise’s full performance on Make Noise’s youtube channel!

Check out the full video of all of Make Noise’s residents, workshops, and parties!

Videos were recorded and edited by Pete Speer, interviews were recorded, shot, and edited by Walker Farrell; the recap was written and edited by Walker Farrell and also includes footage by Peter Speer and Lewis Dahm.

Sleep Number, Mini-Residency with Make Noise Music | September 21-23, 2022

From September 21-23, Make Noise’s third resident, Sleep Number, will be using a patch that combines samples from the State Fair, Strega feedback and overdrive!

Our friends at Make Noise Music are hosting a series of mini-residencies this month. They are inviting a few favorite local artists to play with their gear, especially the brand new analog stereo oscillator, XPO.

Check out Sleep Number’s full performance on Make Noise’s youtube channel!

Check out the full video of all of Make Noise’s residents, workshops, and parties!

Videos were recorded and edited by Pete Speer, interviews were recorded, shot, and edited by Walker Farrell; the recap was written and edited by Walker Farrell and also includes footage by Peter Speer and Lewis Dahm.

Farewell Phoenix, Mini-Residency with Make Noise Music | September, 2022

From September 19-21, Make Noise’s second resident, animator and visual artist Farewell Phoenix, will be using a patch that transcends time and space!

Our friends at Make Noise Music are hosting a series of mini-residencies this month. They are inviting a few favorite local artists to play with their gear, especially the brand new analog stereo oscillator, XPO. 

Check out Farewell Phoenix’s full performance on Make Noise’s youtube channel!

Check out the full video of all of Make Noise’s residents, workshops, and parties!

Videos were recorded and edited by Pete Speer, interviews were recorded, shot, and edited by Walker Farrell; the recap was written and edited by Walker Farrell and also includes footage by Peter Speer and Lewis Dahm.

Thom Nguyen, Mini-Residency with Make Noise Music | September 12-15, 2023

From September 12-15, Make Noise’s first artist, Thom Nguyen will be making a glorious racket at 821 Haywood Rd!

Our friends at Make Noise Music are hosting a series of mini-residencies this month. They are inviting a few favorite local artists to play with their gear, especially the brand new analog stereo oscillator, XPO.

Check out Thom’s full performance on Make Noise’s youtube channel here.

Check out the full video of all of Make Noise’s residents here.

Videos were recorded and edited by Pete Speer, interviews were recorded, shot, and edited by Walker Farrell; the recap was written and edited by Walker Farrell and also includes footage by Peter Speer and Lewis Dahm.

Make Noise Synthesizers | September 2022

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The Make Noise Pop-Up at 821 included parties, a Pop-Up Store with demos, workshops, artist Mini-Residencies, and a month-long raffle benefiting REVOLVE and the Bob Moog Foundation!

The artists Make Noise hosted for mini-residencies were Farewell Phoenix, Sleep Number, Thom Nguyen, and Sarah Louise. You can check the full video Make Noise created for their residency on Make Noise’s YouTube channel.

Make Noise also hosted workshops with Bana Haffar with O-Coast Night, Pete Speer with a DIY Reverb Workshop, and Walker Farrell with a Prismatic Oscillations workshop. All events were open to the public, except those which required advance signup.

This pop up was also the first time people will be able to buy Make Noise’s brand new stereo oscillator XPO. Also available were desktop units, modules, the new XPO t-shirt, and music made by the Make Noise Crew and Artists in Residence.

Make Noise was founded in 2008 by Tony Rolando, a self-taught electronic musical instrument designer who got started by obsessively reading amateur radio books at the public library, building electronics for artists, such as the light controlled mixer for Simon Lee’s “Bus Obscura,” working for Moog Music, and playing in bands for many years. After 3 years of isolation on a mountain top he founded Make Noise.

Event Signup

Viola Spells | August 2022

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Viola Spells is a crochet wire artist who used her time as our first Artist in Residence in August 2022 to experiment with different techniques to create jewelry and figurative sculptures. Ms. Spells uses crochet wire as a medium to communicate the dual concepts of “Line” and the culture of women and also makes “protest jewelry “ to illustrate the struggle of African Americans’ lives in the United States; these pieces, called narrative jewelry, are primarily made of mixed metals with text. Raised in Asheville and educated at Allen High School in Asheville, Central University in Durham, and The University of Michigan in Ann Arbor for a graduate degree in Library Science, Ms. Spells is the owner of ZenobiaStudio in Asheville’s River Arts District and resides in Asheville with her daughter and grandson. After retiring as a children’s and regional librarian in the northeast, she received her B.F.A. In Metalsmithing and Jewelry from East Tennessee State University. We were honored and thrilled to have her join us as our first artist in residence!