David Held
At a young age, I was diagnosed with dyslexia. Reading and writing was difficult, but there was a feeling inside me that needed a mode of creative expression. I was drawn to the visual mediums of the structural film and video movement of the 1960’s and 70’s. I apprenticed with filmmaker/science fiction illustrator Ed Emshwiller for three years while in high school. Later I went on to SUNY Buffalo, Center for Media Studies where I apprenticed and studied with film artist Paul Sharits as well with photographer/filmmaker Hollis Frampton and video artists Woody and Steina Vasulka.
As I matured as an artist, the main material in my work became the uses, meaning and sounds of language in the creation of sound/multimedia installations. My interest in sound and language intensified after a year of being a selective mute. In several sound and video installations, the use of phonemes and the intonation of words form the basis of my multimedia compositions.
My artistic career was revitalized by the Maker Movement in the 2010’s. I taught several “Art and Technology” courses to middle and high school students and mentored high school students in Kingston’s Alternative High School. During this time I created several sculptural pieces while organizing and displaying in official Maker Faires in Poughkeepsie, NY in 2015-2017.
Grants/Credits:
Recipient of a Mid-Hudson Arts Grant for the installation of Repercussions: Cross Examinations, 2022
Producer and exhibitor of official Maker Faire in Poughkeepsie – 2015, 2016, 2017
NEA Grant with Woody Vasulka and Paul Sharits to develop computer based RGB Film Recording System, 1982
NYS Council of the Arts Grant, Development of Computerized 16 Channel Sound Distribution System, 1979
WNET TV, New York,NY “Merce by Merce by Paik” Soundtrack for video by Nam June Paik on Merce Cunningham, 1976
Individual and Group Exhibitions:
Woodstock Arts Association & Museum, Far and Wide, 2024, Group
St. Art Center, Saugerties, NY – Off The Charts, 2024, Group
Buoy, Kingston, NY May 2023, Individual
Art League Rhode Island, “American Carnage’, Photograph, 2023, Group
Denizen Theatre, New Paltz, “Ask Not…”’, Photograph, 2023, Group
Cultural Center of Cape Cod, “Cross Examinations (A Sounding), Video, 2023, Group
Hallways Gallery Buffalo, NY Dec. 1984, Group
Rising Sun Media Center, Santa Fe, NM May 1981, Individual
Media Study/Buffalo, Buffalo, NY July 1981 and Jan. 1979, Individual
International Computer Music Conference, Denton, TX November 1981, Individual
SUNY New Paltz, Media Conference March 1981 (Group Show)
Minneapolis Institute of the Arts, Minneapolis, MN November 1980
Central Casting, Ithaca, NY May 1978, Individual
makingwithheld.com 