Payton Baril and Caleb Gardner’s improvisational sound piece, Digital Material, explores the interaction between the physical and the digital. Through manual manipulation of multiple keyboards and a circuit bent Speak & Spell (a 1980s electronic child’s toy), Digital Material creates an experience of audible touch in order to draw attention to the body’s role within the emerging digital world. According to the artists, in a future where the body becomes secondary to the device, it is important to center the human experience in the digital.
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Payton Baril is a sound and video artist based in Richmond, VA. They are a prospective candidate for the BFA in Kinetic Imaging at Virginia Commonwealth University. Their work primarily focuses on connections we make with each other and with technology.
Caleb Gardner is a freelance writer and tinkerer originally from Portsmouth, VA. Most of his formal work centers on music, art, and social issues while his tinkering interests often involve circuit-bending, electronics repurposing, and VHS manipulation.
