Game Transfer Phenomena
Cover of “Game Transfer Phenomena” (EVT001) featuring Michael Asher’s photography.
Dear Friends,
Next week, on January 10, a collaboration with the estate of Joshua Caleb Weibley — an exhibition called Game Transfer Phenomena — will open at CHART Gallery in New York City and will run until February 15, 2025. I composed and performed a 12’ stereo loop which will be installed alongside Joshua’s sculptures. From the CHART Gallery website:
Game Transfer Phenomena consists of 7 crates made to hold objects derived from Tetris’s 7 Tetromino shapes. The installation takes its name from repetitive gameplay’s influence on spatial reasoning and the visual/auditory hallucinations it induces. These perceptual occurrences were first observed following the wider release of Tetris during the late 1980s and are also called “The Tetris Effect.”
In tandem with the opening, there will also be a cassette release of the sound installation which will be presented in three 12’ iterations and limited to 50 copies. In collaboration with Joshua and I, Christian Alborz Oldham designed the release, which will be available at the gallery (74 Franklin Street, NYC), the Editions Verde website, and on the EV Bandcamp page, starting January 10. A bit more about the sound installation:
Composer and sound artist Jordan Dykstra succeeds Tetris’s iconic Gameboy soundtrack with a score for the installation mimicking the benefits of Tetris-play for alleviating PTSD. Inspired by the practice of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, Dykstra’s composition allows listeners a meditative envelope for reconditioning painful memories. His walking-pace metronomic elements direct tempo through right and left channels at opposite ends of the room, using echo and delay to align or disorient the listener through sections of varying complexity. The piece’s rhythm is made from the sound of crates being struck with a hammer. These strikes stack, collect, become disorganized, and suddenly click together with the satisfaction of removing a row in Tetris over the course of a 12 minute loop.
Hope to see you there,
Jordan
UPDATE (1/24): An Interlocutor podcast interview with Josh and I has been released. Available on all streaming platforms as well as their website: https://interlocutorinterviews.com/new-blog/2025/1/22/interlocutor-interviews-podcast-game-transfer-phenomena-amp-the-tetris-effect-a-conversation-with-the-executor-of-the-estate-of-joshua-caleb-weibley-amp-composer-jordan-dykstra