byron westbrook: mirror views

Ash International presents Mirror Views, a new long-form work from LA-based composer Byron Westbrook. While Westbrook's field recording process has been central for many years to both his composition and installation works, there has yet to be a major release showcasing this aspect of his artistic practice. On Mirror Views, he seamlessly blends cassette field recordings with "faked" synthesizer binaural environments created from noise and unstable tones. The album's four sections and 72 minutes unfold with patience, taking cues from Luc Ferrari and Maryanne Amacher to use the passage of time to create deeply immersive effects. Westbrook also incorporates animated phase relationships between speakers to simulate perspective shifts, blurring what is a documented event vs. electronic fabrication. This is a work of subtlety and sonic precision that is only possible to reproduce on CD and digital formats. Artwork & design by Philip Marshall. Photography by Byron Westbrook. Byron Westbrook is an artist and composer based in Los Angeles, CA. He works with both music performance and installation formats, with a focus on architectural qualities of sound and the potential for audio to generate visual spaces. Westbrook holds an MFA from Bard College, where he studied with Marcus Schmickler, David Behrman and Marina Rosenfeld. He also worked closely with Phill Niblock to produce, record and archive concerts at Experimental Intermedia Foundation in NYC from 2005-2014. His work has been presented by international institutions such as the Walker Art Center, ICA London, Rewire Festival, MaerzMusik Festival and he has recently been visiting faculty with Pratt Institute MFA, Columbia University Sound Arts MFA, and International Center of Photography's New Media Narratives program.