Chari Glogovac-Smith (they/them/theirs)

Artist Statement

Using an evolving mixture of traditional and experimental techniques, I am dynamically exploring and illustrating counterpoints between the human experience and society. This exploration takes shape in the form of expansive sound compositions, experimental filmmaking and film scoring, photography, animation, data-driven art, and public speaking.

My current research centers around concepts of speculative world-building, identity, revolutionary movements and art practices, reimagined landscapes, critical fabulation, Afrofuturism, and somatic sound.

Bio

As a composer, Chari is known for creating everything from dense intricate electroacoustic soundscapes to string quartets and mixed ensemble pieces. They utilize historical recordings, field recordings, analog and digital synthesizers, acoustic percussion, voice, and computer processing in their sound tapestries. They have composed commissioned pieces for The Center of the Art of Performance at UCLA, and a large mixed ensemble piece for The Black Iris Project in New York, NY, USA.

As a mixed media artist, Chari has created works that including video, machine learning, immersive audio, interactive, and live sound processing. Their most recent works include Baptiste, a post-apocalyptic film with live sound accompaniment, and The Afro-Futurist Guide to Time Travel, an Afro-futurist themed mixed media project that weaves machine learning, appropriated footage, and moving sound performance together as a narrative on grief, time travel, and survival in modern-day society.

As a performer, Chari spent 10 years as a vocalist in various touring rock and hip-hop bands and then made the decision to transition to graduate studies full time. They now perform under the moniker Cairo Ekko, a historical media, meets sci-fi, meets exploratory synthesizer project.

As a collaborator, Chari is a member of the Background Noise Ensemble, an experimental electroacoustic music collective with Mills College affiliation. Their debut project, Metal Lake Reservoir was released on Full Spectrum Records in January of 2021.

Chari is a McNair Scholar and a Nevada Art Council Fellow. Chari holds a B.S. in Health Ecology from the University of Nevada, Reno, an M.F.A. in Electronic Music and Recording Media from Mills College in Oakland, CA, and is currently working on their Ph.D. in Experimental Arts and Digital Media at the University of Washington.