29 Giraffes is the first exhibition of visual art by composer and sound artist Ben Houge, a selection of algorithmically generated digital prints, created using a custom computer program to reshuffle snippets of photographs into kaleidoscopic new constellations. Ben’s program, written in Max/MSP, functions as a kind of elaborate and very specialized paintbrush that he uses to paint his images on the screen, a process analogous to the granular synthesis techniques he’s been applying in his sound pieces for years. The photographs used as source material for these works were taken along East Nanjing Rd. at night, providing a bright, neon palette, ripe for digital manipulation; the intricate, pointillistic images that result range from sparse wisps to rich fields of subtly-shifting color.

The opening reception features a live performance by Ben Houge and doubles as a release party for his new CD Radiospace 040823. Radiospace is an ambient, algorithmically-structured montage of Shanghai radio broadcasts, in which familiar snatches of music and speech disintegrate and re-emerge in surprising new juxtapositions. The 29 Giraffes opening party presents an ideal opportunity to experience the same idea manifested in two media at the same time.

Ben Houge is a 13-year veteran of the videogame industry, where issues of real-time, non-linear, algorithmic systems are a matter of day-to-day business. He recently completed three and half years as audio director of Tom Clancy’s EndWar. Since arriving in Shanghai five years ago, he has been an active participant in the new music scene, performing at the 2Pi Festival in Hangzhou, the Shanghai eArts Festival, the Zendai Museum of Modern Art, RESO, and several NOIShanghai shows. His sound installations have been exhibited at Beijing’s Today Art Museum and Shanghai International Creative Industry Week.