MSHR: Orbit Instantiator (Ellipses)

The object of the ellipse within science fiction offers numerous ways to reimagine temporarily outside of the confines of linear progress. In part two of ‘Ellipses: Returning to Time Knots and Techno Utopias’ we travel back to the techno-utopian ideas of the dot com boom of the early 1990s to explore the now fraught potential of constructions of digital space and generative music, and the hope that technological advancement could bring society closer to utopia. Brenna Murphy and Birch Cooper from MSHR talk through the influence of science fiction; using the webpage as an artistic platform; and the construction and interaction with generative systems. MSHR have created Orbit Instantiator, an epic and other-worldly hyperlink labyrinth where the reader can navigate sixteen rooms. Each room glimpses into an unknown world that fuses computer-generated music and digital sculpture together, and is responsive, morphing and shifting as the reader explores the webpage. MSHR is an art collective that builds and explores sculptural electronic systems. Their practice is a self-transforming entity with its outputs patched into its inputs, expressing its form through interactive installations, virtual environments and live improvisations. MSHR was established in 2011 in Portland, Oregon by Brenna Murphy and Birch Cooper. Their name is a modular acronym, designed to hold varied ideas over time. https://disclaimer.org.au/contents/ellipses-br-returning-to-time-knots-br-and-techno-utopias/orbit-instantiator Image by MSHR. Produced by Mara Schwerdtfeger. Financial support from patrons at any level has a resounding impact on our work. You can support Liquid Architecture’s weekly podcast and our online journal Disclaimer, for new thinking and writing on listening and sound through a Patreon subscription, for as little as $5 a month. https://www.patreon.com/liquidarchitecture For the past 20 years, Liquid Architecture has been Australia’s leading organisation for artists working with sound and listening. LA investigates the sounds themselves, but also the ideas communicated about, and the meaning of, sound and listening. https://liquidarchitecture.org.au/