With Womens Work: crys cole

On Saturday, March 22nd at 8pm, ISSUE Project Room presents a new project by sound artist and composer crys cole. Between March 20-22, the organization will present new, live performance scores at its 22 Boerum Pl. theater as part of ongoing activations of the With Womens Work Series.

Canadian sound artist crys cole, who has maintained a longstanding relationship with ISSUE since 2014, returns this March to present an expanded version of her 2021 piece, “Valid ForeverrRrrRRrrr… (pt.1).” Originally created for the With Women's Work series, the piece draws inspiration from Beth Anderson’s VALID FOR LIFE, a complex arrangement of the letter "R" in various typefaces. On this occasion, she will also include an acoustic performance of her piece “keeping the ball rolling,” activating the unique acoustic and material identity of the 22 Boerum Pl. theater. 

Composer Beth Anderson suggests a realization on a trio of acoustic instruments (playing rolls with velvet beaters), and cole translates the piece into her characteristic sound and object language as a trio of rolling sounds on ‘two large similar paper things and one 5-pin bowling ball’. Rolling from one side of the stereo field to the other, the bowling ball’s uneven movement is the heart of this immersive textural array, created with the simplest materials, which generates phantom sensations of pitch and phasing effects solely through amplified friction. Her most recent solo album, Making Conversation, released by Black Truffle in 2024, includes both parts of Valid ForeverrRrrRRrrr…, and the title track is a composition inspired by the natural patterns and movement of the nocturnal soundscape of Ubud Bali, constructed through objects and sounds created by the artist.

The archive is not neutral. At ISSUE, we strive to help artists expose and redress the historical record and structures of power relating to sex and gender. The ongoing With Womens Work Series aims to continuously activate and grow the accounts of women’s experiences and practices in the avant-garde canon, while honoring the legacy of artists who have built and contributed to it over the years. 

crys cole is a Canadian sound artist based in Berlin (DE) whose work includes composition, performance, sound sculpture and installation. Taking a conceptual approach, she generates subtle and imperfect sounds through haptic gestures and seemingly mundane materials to create texturally nuanced electro-acoustic works that continuously retune the ear. cole has performed extensively worldwide as a solo artist and with various collaborators including Oren Ambarchi (AU) James Rushford (AU, as Ora Clementi), Tetuzi Akiyama (JP), David Rosenboom (US), Annea Lockwood (US/NZ), Keith Rowe (UK) and many more. She has presented her work at festivals, events and institutions including; Presence Electronique (FR), the Walker Art Center (US), Editions Festival (SW + JP), Tectonics Festival (US + AU), Vancouver New Music (CA), Akademie der Kunste (DE), Art Gallery of New South Wales (AU), Archipel Festival (CH), BACC (TH), café Oto (UK) and many more. Cole’s sound installations and sculptures often investigate ideas around impermanence, temporality, memory and illusion, with a particular interest in simple everyday materials and site specificity. Her work has been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions in Canada, Czech Republic, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Russia, the UK, Spain, Switzerland and Thailand.