John Thomas Levee
Bio: John Thomas Levee is an artist and composer whose work often involves sound, installation, video, performance, and sculpture. He was born in 1998 in Jacksonville, Florida and attended Stetson University in DeLand, Florida, where he studied audio recording, music composition, and video production. His research in spatial audio has been presented both domestically and internationally, and his artistic work has been exhibited at a variety of galleries in New York City (notably the Jewish Museum and Fridman Gallery), as well as in other states across the country. He is currently pursuing an MFA in Sound Art at Columbia University, where he also teaches in a variety of topics pertaining to music technology.
www.johnlevee.com
Instagram: @johnthomaslevee
Thesis Exhibition
Artist Statement: John Thomas Levee is an artist and composer working at the intersection of a variety of mediums. His work often examines notions of human interaction with the environment and with technology. Often site-specific, Levee’s work strives to ask of the viewer: “How does this work relate to its surroundings? To you? By extension, how do you relate to your surroundings?” These questions are meant to drive dialogue regarding humanity’s influence on the natural world and on ourselves, specifically in regards to industrialization and technological advancement. Obsolete technology, field recordings, and found objects are all integral to Levee’s work. For him, all of these components are evocative of specific places and times, and function as transportive tools. In regards to obsolete technology, his video work tends to use VHS tapes, CRT TVs, and cameras which record to outdated media formats. Not only do these provide constraints to the process of artmaking, which is integral to Levee’s artistic production, but also point to technology as a thematic element of the work. Levee believes that using obsolete, recycled, often landfill-bound technology in the production of the work draws a connection to the relationship between everadvancing technology and human destruction of natural spaces.
On a Quote by Bruce Nauman (77" x 156" x 209", Live sound, labor, 2022)
First Year Exhibition
Est. 1909 (72” x 96” x 48”, Found Objects, Found Sounds, 2021)
