Video History Project

People

Ralph Sullender

Woody Sullender is a composer and performer currently based in Brooklyn, NY. His work primarily focuses on the socio-political aspects of organized sound. This has most frequently manifested in improvised music performances on electro-acoustic banjo under the moniker "Uncle Woody Sullender".

While alluding to the "traditional" musics of his home states of Virginia and North Carolina, he explores a diverse plane of plucked string music from around the world as well as incorporating punk, noise, free jazz, etc. Previously, he has worked with pioneering electronic composers such as Pauline Oliveros and Maryanne Amacher (incorporating his banjo recordings into Amacher's "TEO! A sonic sculpture" which won the Golden Nica prize at the 2005 Ars Electronica festival). Current collaborations include duo projects with harmonica player Seamus Cater (Amsterdam), cellist Kevin Davis (Istanbul/Chicago), and violinist Katt Hernandez (Philadelphia). Among other activities, he teaches graduate courses in the Media Studies department at the New School and is occasionally heard DJing on WFMU.

Cite this record

"Ralph Sullender." Video History Project, Experimental Television Center, 2011. https://www.videohistoryproject.org/ralph-sullender.

Download RIS citation
Summary

Woody Sullender is a Brooklyn-based composer and performer whose work examines socio-political aspects of organized sound, often via improvised electro-acoustic banjo performances as Uncle Woody Sullender that reference traditional musics of Virginia and North Carolina and incorporate punk, noise and free jazz. He worked with Pauline Oliveros and Maryanne Amacher; Amacher used his banjo recordings in TEO! A sonic sculpture, which won the Golden Nica at Ars Electronica in 2005. He collaborates with Seamus Cater (Amsterdam), Kevin Davis (Istanbul/Chicago) and Katt Hernandez (Philadelphia), teaches Media Studies at the New School and DJs on WFMU.

Submit a change or correction

If unchecked, this will appear as a public note on the site immediately. Spam filters may delay publication, but all submissions are reviewed by staff.

Changes will be reviewed and integrated as time permits. For major changes, feel free to email [email protected].

Last modified 18 June 2011

Related records

  • Bart Woodstrup People

    Bart Bridger Woodstrup (born 1973) is a computer musician and MFA candidate in the Integrated Electronic Arts Program at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York; he studies under Pauline Oliveros, Neil Rolnick, and Curtis Bahn. He applies formal visual-arts training, computer programming, and sensor data to generate real-time audio and video synthesis and to create video as visual support for his compositions. He has taught at the Illinois Institute of Art at Schaumburg and Northern Illinois University, worked in the Experimental Television Center Residency Program, and presented at SEAMUS, Siggraph, and ISEA.

  • John Plenge - ToneFactory People

    John Plenge (aka ToneFactory) is an ASCAP, OBIE and NYSCA award-winning composer, sound designer and music producer based in New York City who creates music and sonic environments for film, recording artists and performance. His work was featured this fall at Ars Electronica and in the Festival International du Film d'Environnement (Paris) and in a new animated Peanuts video game series. He teaches at The New School University; he has two large-scale multimedia theater projects with Mabou Mines and the 3 Legged Dog Media and Theater Group due in 2008, and his film scores screened at Cannes (2006) and won Best Sound Design at the Sante Fe Film Festival.

  • Tobaron Waxman People

    https://www.tobaron.com Tobaron Waxman is an interdisciplinary time based artist, specialising in performance and digital media. He recently completed an MFA at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where he also taught Voice in the Performance department. He received a BA from University of T…

  • David Galbraith People

    David Galbraith is a New York–based composer, performer and media artist working in sound installations, video, software and performances with self-built analog electronics. Composition 2005 No. 1 was shown at Diapason and is slated for a Diapason DVD; he received a 2006 Finishing Funds grant from the Experimental Television Center/NYSCA for lgOpre and enhanced it at STEIM in 2007. His work has been exhibited at P.S.1/MoMA, New Museum and KW Institute; he holds an M.F.A. (California Institute of the Arts, 1996) and a B.S. (University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1988).

  • David Weinstein People

    David Weinstein is a composer and multimedia artist whose musical and site-specific installation works have been shown worldwide; his musical practice juxtaposes sound effects, traditional and non traditional instruments, synthetic sound, ancient and exotic tunings, and noise. As a keyboardist he has recorded and performed with Shelley Hirsch, Elliott Sharp, John Zorn, Ned Rothenberg and Rhys Chatham; his theatrical, installation and multimedia pieces have received grants and awards. He participated in a long collaboration with the live video performance group The Poool and works with Doris Vila on animated, multi-user, multi-screen responsive environment installations cited at Prix Ars Electronica 2002.

  • Stan VanDerBeek and Billy Kluver Chronology

    Contemporary Voices in the Arts toured Stan VanDerBeek and Billy Kluver to colleges for workshops and public presentations. Supported by New York State Council on the Arts.