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If confronted by a starved great white shark, or a fast-approaching cement truck, the body triggers a physical response that prepares it to either take on obstacles or run from the situation altogether. This "Fight-or-Flight" response is put into motion by the Sympathetic Nervous System, a normally harmonious network of nerves and hormones that, if thrown off balance, can result in serious complications.
The Sympathetic Nervous System inside me becomes my most reliable ally. In a fitting contrast, my taunting foe the mosquito will never know this delicate yet essential "Fight-or-Flight" system. Presented as a process machine, the various extension cord cut-offs make up a continuous electrical circuit based on the finite nervous system of a mosquito. A cluster of 6-volt batteries powers an electronic preamp that feeds a 15kHz sonic frequency up through the electrical circuit of cut-offs and out to the speakers on the receiving end. From my research, 15kHz is the perfect sonic frequency to repel mosquitoes. This circuit, now a crude musical synthesizer, produces a low rumbling static buzz that bleeds into the gallery space.
My nervous system colliding with yours, colliding with the mosquito's, and propelled by an oscillating sound frequency, creates an endless feedback loop. Within the feedback loop, the categories mutate, collide, and become incompatible and interchangeable — a reflection of the imbalance and absurdity of all things.
– Andy Ralph
“...A Placebo, An Embryo, A Mosquito, My Libido” will be on view at New Release from February 12 – March 8, 2020, with an opening reception on Wednesday, February 12th from 6–8pm. Gallery hours are Friday through Sunday, 12–6pm and by appointment.
As an accompaniment to this exhibition, New Release is pleased to make available for the first time, SOUND ACCESSORY - a single pressed tape cassette featuring compositions of Industrial Hand Percussion by Paul Remund, engineered and recorded by James Ralph.
This is Andy Ralph’s second solo exhibition at New Release. Andy Ralph (b. 1982) is based in New York. Ralph’s work has been exhibited all over the USA including Safe Gallery, NY; Sculpture Center, NY; Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego; Mascher Space, Philadelphia; Orange Country Museum of Art, Newport Beach. He received his MFA from Hunter College in 2019
