Audiotheque – gustavo matamoros

TOWARD THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A SOUND ART CENTER IN MIAMI

Audiotheque (1.0) was a sound art project I conceived at the request of María Del Valle, managed and funded through the Subtropics Organization. Beginning in 2012, it was housed in my studio (Room 201) at ArtCenter/South Florida — now known as Oolite Arts. Originally, the project was designed as a collaborative platform for artists-in-residence to develop new works, including pieces for my public art initiative, the Listening Gallery, another Knight Arts Challenge–funded project.

From the outset, Audiotheque was not only a venue for concerts, listening events, and public programs; it was an environment tuned for heightened perception — a space dedicated to the experience of sound as art. Its purpose was to introduce audiences to exceptional listening experiences while establishing, within the ArtCenter, Miami’s first dedicated space for sound art.

The artist in the darkened Audiotheque facing a video projection from Everglades: Applied Universal Force, with a small stool in the center of the listening space. — Gustavo Matamoros reviewing *Everglades: Applied Universal Force* in Audiotheque 2.0, 2018.

In 2017, I received a second Knight Arts Challenge grant, which made it possible to reimagine and redesign Audiotheque as a purpose-built instrument for spatial and concentrated listening. In collaboration with visual artist and exhibition designer Freddy Jouwayed, my studio was transformed into a custom laboratory for sound — an architectural environment where listening became a form of participation.

At its center was a 30-channel sound system of my own design, supported by theatrical lighting and projection capabilities. This configuration offered audiences access to sonic experiences of rare spatial and timbral detail, enabling artists to explore new forms of audible interaction with space.

Audiotheque 2.0 opened to the public on September 13, 2018, and presented public programs through December 15. The project concluded on December 16 with a closing party, Audiotheque: Out With a Bang! The program included works created collaboratively with resident artists, compositions I developed for the system, and spatial adaptations of works drawn from the Subtropics Sound Art Collection.

My approach focused on three interrelated elements:

•   The Content — the sound materials themselves;
•   The Timbre — the individual color and behavior of each speaker; and
•   The Space — the acoustic response of the environment.

Together, these formed a relational matrix, where each element informed and redefined the others — an early embodiment of what I now call Co-textual Art, in which artwork, technology, architecture, and audience coexist in mutual calibration.

Following the installation of the 30-channel system, the summer of 2018 was dedicated to creating new works that could reveal the expressive potential of this instrument. When Audiotheque 2.0 opened, it became a continuous platform for sound installations, performances, collaborations, and experimental adaptations of my own compositions, as well as works drawn from the Subtropics Archive of Sound Art.

Each week, a new project transformed the space — from intimate four-point pyramid configurations to full thirty-channel orchestrations. Across its run, Audiotheque 2.0 functioned as both studio and stage, inviting audiences to inhabit sound as an evolving, site-specific experience.

For detailed documentation, including attendance reports, audience surveys, and reviews, please see: SUBTROPICS-AUDIOTHEQUE_2.0

Dark Audiotheque interior with a wall-sized video projection of a cat and human figures, a microphone stand at center and audio equipment at left. — Audiotheque 2.0 configured for sound, projection and spatialized listening, 2018.

AUDIOTHEQUE 2.0 SCHEDULE

September 13, 2018 | AT2E1
World Premiere Opening: Four Audible Experiences of Movement of Sound in Space | Gustavo Matamoros

Small Sound Up The Wall (for Alison Knowles)
Everglades: Applied Universal Force (for Charles Recher)
String Solo (for Vito Acconci)
Eighty Five Audible Moments (for Pauline Oliveros)

Red Audiotheque closing-party graphic with fragmented white lettering reading “Out With a Bang!” and a bullet hole surrounded by radiating cracks. — Promotional graphic for Audiotheque: Out With a Bang!, the Audiotheque 2.0 closing party, December 16, 2018.

Vincent Barras, Jacques Demierre and Chris Mann seated behind music stands and speaking into microphones during a performance of Foreign Bodies. — Vincent Barras, Jacques Demierre and Chris Mann performing Foreign Bodies during the inaugural Audiotheque concert, November 12, 2012.

AUDIOTHEQUE 1.0 [ SEASON 1 — 2012-13 ]

November 12, 2012 | S1E1
Foreign Bodies | Vincent Barras, Jacques Demierre, Chris Mann and Thierry Simonot

December 5, 2012 | S1E2
Occupied Spaces | Resident artist Armando Rodriguez

December 14, 2012 | S1E3
Motl, Dominguez + Del Toro | Kyle Motl, Carlos Dominguez and Brian del Toro — electronics

December 30, 2012 | S1E4
Bill Orcutt: Unplugged | Bill Orcutt, guitar

January 9, 2013 | S1E5
Kenny Millions: Unplugged | Kenny Millions, saxophone

May 2, 2013 | S1E6
Kyle Motl: (Un)plugged | Kyle Motl, double bass, and Brian del Toro, guitar

May 23, 2013 | S1E7
Abbey Rader Quartet: Live at Audiotheque | Abbey Rader, John McMinn, Noah Brandmark and Kyle Motl

June 8, 2013 | S1E8
On Structure: Live at Audiotheque | On Structure Duo

June 15, 2013 | S1E9
David Font + Omar Angulo | David Font and Omar Angulo

July 18, 2013 | S1E10
Abbey Rader: Farewell to Motl | Abbey Rader, John McMinn, Noah Brandmark and Kyle Motl

AUDIOTHEQUE 1.0 [ SEASON 2 — 2013-14 ]

Armando Rodriguez standing beside a percussion setup while Julio Roloff bows an upright bass during a PUNTO performance at Audiotheque. — Armando Rodriguez (left) and Julio Roloff (right) performing as PUNTO at Audiotheque.

White promotional card reading “ROCK PAPER SCISSORS,” with a stone replacing the O in rock, a paper square replacing the E in paper and blue scissors replacing the I in scissors. — Promotional card for ROCK, PAPER, SCISSORS, a three-part series performed by Inlets Ensemble at Audiotheque, September 12–26, 2015.

AUDIOTHEQUE 1.0 [ SEASON 3 — 2014-15 ]

card for the Rock, Paper, Scissors triptych performed by Inlets Ensemble

AUDIOTHEQUE 1.0 [ SEASON 4 — 2015-16 ]

Fred Lonberg-Holm bowing a cello while seated among microphones, cables and electronic effects pedals at Audiotheque. — Artist-in-residence Fred Lonberg-Holm performing The Extended Cello at Audiotheque, February 3, 2016. Photograph by Stephen Malagodi.

Artist-in-residence, Fred Lonberg-Holm

October 8, 2015 | S4E1
Signature Classics of the Avant-Garde | Jason Calloway, cello

December 9, 2015 | S4E2
The Inertials Multimedia | Edward Bobb

December 10, 2015 | S4E3
Improvisations | Tatsuya Nakatani

December 23, 2015 | S4E4
Chris Corsano | Chris Corsano

February 3, 2016 | S4E5
The Extended Cello | Resident artist Fred Lonberg-Holm

February 5, 2016 | S4E6
LightBox Orchestra | Resident artist Fred Lonberg-Holm

February 17, 2016 | S4E7
The Middle Way Quartet: East–West | Abbey Rader, John McMinn, Noah Brandmark and Joe Zeytoonian

March 5, 2016 | S4E8
Subtropics 2016 Marathon | 30 Miami artists

March 17, 2016 | S4E9
Guitarist Nadav Remez: Trio | Nadav Remez, David Leon and Ryan Hecker

April 6, 2016 | S4E10
50 Years of Recording | Resident artist Russell Frehling

June 2, 2016 | S4E11
Smith–Williams: Instant Composition | Resident artists LaDonna Smith and Davey Williams

June 4, 2016 | S4E12
Smith–Williams–Melford: Solo, Duo, Trio | LaDonna Smith, Davey Williams and Myra Melford

June 5, 2016 | S4E13
Instant Composing Orchestra | Resident artists LaDonna Smith and Davey Williams

August 10, 2016 | S4E14
Harry: The Dog That Bit You | Resident artist Sam Ashley and Gustavo Matamoros

August 21, 2016 | S4E15
Mysticism Workshop | Resident artist Sam Ashley

September 27, 2016 | S4E16
Miami Music Club: Elka Bong | Al Margolis and Walter Wright

AUDIOTHEQUE 1.0 [ SEASON 5 — 2016-17 ]

Black-and-white image of a performer wearing a crumpled-paper costume with a tall pointed hood and adjusting its large paper sleeves. — Paper Weather, performed by Alison Knowles and Jessica Higgins at Audiotheque, June 9, 2017.

November 1, 2016 | S5E1
Cosmic Sound Sculptures I | Richard Brookens, Tom Lippincott and Jeff Abbott

November 22, 2016 | S5E2
Memory Studies | Maya Verlaak and Inlets Ensemble

November 29, 2016 | S5E3
Slushpump Sounds | Steve Parker and friends

December 15, 2016 | S5E4
Modern Masters | Jason Calloway, cello

January 24, 2017 | S5E5
Cosmic Sound Sculptures II | Richard Brookens, Tom Lippincott and Jeff Abbott

January 31, 2017 | S5E6
BaKaRuNa: Anna Mikhailova Quartet | Anna Mikhailova, Matthew Taylor, Dan Dickinson and Arturo Garcia

February 17, 2017 | S5E7
Nordic Sounds | Jason Calloway, cello

March 1, 2017 | S5E8
Music by Women Composers | Kyle Motl, double bass

March 2, 2017 | S5E9
Reunion: Abbey Rader Quartet | Abbey Rader, Kidd Jordan, John McMinn and Kyle Motl

April 5, 2017 | S5E10
Nylon & Copper | Federico Bonacossa and Jacob Sudol

April 26, 2017 | S5E11
Asian Currents | Jason Calloway, cello

May 21, 2017 | S5E12
Electronic Music and Dance Residency | Myriam Gourfink and Kasper Toeplitz

May 22, 2017 | S5E13
Compositional Choreography Through Yoga | Myriam Gourfink

May 24, 2017 | S5E14
AMAS | Resident artist Kasper Toeplitz

June 9, 2017 | S5E15
Paper Weather Performance | Resident artists Alison Knowles and Jessica Higgins

August 3, 2017 | S5E16
Sound Art Residency | Resident artists David Dunn and Russell Frehling

August 5, 2017 | S5E17
Sound Art Audio Recording Workshop | Resident artists David Dunn and Russell Frehling

AUDIOTHEQUE 1.0 [ SEASON 6 — 2017-18 ]

Experimental puppet apparatus with a crumpled-foil head facing a cluster of black flexible sensors, microphones and connected cables. — Ultrasonic puppet created by artist-in-residence John Driscoll for the Sonic Puppetry workshop and performance, July 21–22, 2018.

ultrasonic puppet by artist-in-residence John Driscoll

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Audiotheque 1.0 and 2.0 were conceived and curated as Co-textual Art projects by Gustavo Matamoros. Audiotheque 2.0 was developed in collaboration with visual artist and exhibition designer Freddy Jouwayed, with electrical engineering design and installation assistance by Claudio Rodríguez, graphic design by Claudia Ariano (Arianographix), and webcasting by Stephen Malagodi (Spectacular Media).

Both iterations were managed by the Subtropics Organization. Audiotheque 2.0 was made possible through a 2017 Knight Arts Challenge grant from the Knight Foundation, with additional support from the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs, the State of Florida Division of Cultural Affairs, and the City of Miami Beach.

Special thanks to Jeremy Chestler, María Del Valle, Freddy Jouwayed, Stephen Malagodi, Rodrigo Arcaya, Hernan Woodgate, O’Neal Bardin III, Joseph Celli, Mitch Kaplan, Luis Olazabal, Charles Recher, Jim Peele, Alba Triana, Rene Barge, David Dunn, Abbey Rader, Kyle Motl, Luis Colina, Mary Luft, John Kremel, Barron Sherer, Bruce Posner, Bill Orcutt, Kenny Millions, Edward Bobb, Rat Bastard, Kristen Thiele, Merle Weiss, Carol Damian, Lilia García, Susan Caraballo, Natalia, Jennie Wong, Leila Leider Kremer, Cherese Crockett, Tammy Kay, Melissa Gabriel, and Anais Alvarez.