Gren Bee @itmegrenbee - Tumblr Blog

The chest piece of the NSR analog!

A fully functional net of 8 contact microphones inside a silicone casting of my chest (first molded in alginate) which can be used to pickup sound anywhere the chest piece is connected to. If the chest piece is worn, then it picks up the sounds of the body, but if it simply lays flat on the table, then it picks up the sounds of the table's surface and anything lying in it.

For our purposes, this piece will be mounted onto the NSR analog, one of multiple instruments made in the image of my own body, and will be used to pickup additional sounds from the more percussive sides of the instrument as well as give the user more control over feedback; allowing the NSR player (or "Queen Of Wands" as I would like to refer to them) to stop, sustain, and in other ways manipulate feedback as a core part of how the instrument is played just by making contact with my microphone disks.

Here's me testing out the chest piece to make sure the microphones are picking up everything they need to!

The NSR Analog (work in progress!)

The NSR analog is a living instrument, and so I will post progress videos and documents as the project develops, but this is the first of what I hope to be many analog and modular synthesizers and noise makers made by yours truly! The NSR or Narcissus Sex Robot is a family of noise makers made in the image of my own body which produces sounds and effects relevant to the site, experiences, and expression of my trans body and identity. To play oneself like an instrument is to know and for the better part accept every part of yourself. However, to deconstruct and rebuild the form into a variety of disconnected machines is to, in many ways, destroy yourself. The NSR family of instruments and sound sculptures is a project which allows me to walk the line between self acceptance and self destruction, a path many trans women like myself walk down every day, and explore this experience in a way which is both digestable to an audience and loud as hell.

Without further ado, here's the first ever test of a fully playable NSR analog!

21 likes, 4 comments - itmegrenbee on October 21, 2023: "NSR Analog first trial! #diy #theramin #noisemusic"

#performance art #art #theremin #nsr #trans #transart #trans art

The Big E On The Eye Chart, Gren Bee, Performance and Video work, 22:31, December 3, 2022 This performance was a part of DC Empty: Kitchen Sink Performa alongside other new media works that launched the DC EMPTY series at the museum and exhibition space, Dallas Contemporary.

The work itself, The Big E On The Eye Chart was one of two pieces by Gren Bee, and was presented alongside a screening of her genre video piece, "Freak Freak!" (2021). The piece consisted of 131 portraits of Richard Belzer's iconic TV character, John Munch, and utilizes video and audio from the 1993 television series, Homicide: Life On The Street, based on David Simon's book, Homicide: A Year On The Killing Streets (1991), alongside the song Closer, by the band Nine Inch Nails.

For more information on DC EMPTY, and the DC Empty: Kitchen Sink Performa, please visit: https://www.dallascontemporary.org/

This piece was performed alongside the works of incredible graduate and under-graduate new media artists, such as: brandy michele adams, melanie clemmons, diana gonzalez, zak loyd, connor mizell, erick ortiz, teresita pantoja, kamyrn robins, kasey short and colin stokes.

#art #performance art #video art

Antichrist (Gren Bee, 2023) is an ambient horror film, documents a trans woman's descent into a mania as she struggles with the delusions of joining a cult and a lifetime of religious trauma. The film is made with an experimental combination of vertical and horizontal shots arranged in moving compositions, which are played over voicemails and phone calls made out to real 24/7 churches and prayer lines. additionally, cut throughout the voicemails, there are recorded messages of the woman dictated to either a person or people who hurt her and contributed to her religious trauma.

this film is Gren Bee's debut feature length film, and was made for and submitted to Joel Haver's "Instead of Watching The Oscars Make A Movie 2023" competition; in which each director shoots a feature length film (40 minute minimum) during the three hour period that the Oscars broadcasts. the film was shot on Sunday, March 12th, from 7PM to 10PM, and edited over the following 7 days.

This film was made in association with "It's The Radio", and was produced by The Radio Station. this film was directed by: Gren Bee additional camera operation: Ian O' Padrick

#film #art #experimentalfilm #transart #transnarrative #video art

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"Like A Kid Again", Gren Bee, 2023, improvised performance. Adapted from the performance, "Calibration" by Gren Bee. It is the dream of every performer that, through their medium, there will come a moment in which they feel themselves and their craft forming during the duration of their work. The process of creation is so often formed not only despite, but rather in complete thanks to, its mistakes and surprises. Today, I was lucky enough to experience one of those surprises. During a performance of my piece "calibration", in which I demonstrate voice feminization training to the audience member, I was unexpectedly and repeatedly interrupted verbally and physically by them. In past performances of this work, I had not been interrupted before, so not only did this surprise me, but the result drastically altered the ending of the piece. In the original work: I run through a series of vocal exercises, and if I make a mistake or stutter, I slap myself. Typically, this only happens one or two times during the performance. However, because the participant went into the space to purposefully disrupt the piece, I was made to make several more mistakes than usual. This resulted in much more self-directed violence, which caused me to spiral and panic during the performance. This piece was originally just a warm-up, but the new piece that evolved from it has become a Seminole performance from this series. At that moment, I felt like I had no control over the space I had made, I felt afraid, I felt without autonomy, and I felt that both I and my work were not, and will not be, taken seriously by those around me. I felt as though my pain was amusing. I felt like a kid again.

#art #performance #performance art

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"Calibration", Gren Bee, 2023, performance/sound poetry, duration: 7 minutes 30 seconds"

#art #performance art #transart

“Televised News”, Gren Bee, Improvised performance audio, 2023.

Televised News is made in association with It’s The Radio, a limited series by Gren Bee, and was produced by The Radio Station.

Voices featured in this work: Gren Bee, Mea Larkin, Aidan Carter.

#performance #performance art #performanceartist #art #podcast #news #radio #It's The Radio #itstheradio

"Stand To Sit Still", Gren Bee, 2023.

#digital art #art #performance art #itstheradio #animation #animatic #space #lesbian #wlw #it's the radio

Produced by The Radio Station. 2023. Ty @memorydatas !!

#performanceart performanceartist performance art soundart fluxus itstheradio #performanceart #performanceartist #performance #art #soundart #fluxus #itstheradio

Finally working on comics again :D more info on these two later.

#comics #comic #digital art

An animated interview with a knight! Rnaz'etir is a semi-public figure and local legend in Denton Texas, known primarily for his full set of armor and charming disposition! I got an opportunity to interview him, and then I made an animatic because why should anything be easy.

You can find Rnaz on Instagram and TikTok at: @rnazetir_the_knighted