Steve Roden (April 27, 1964 – September 6, 2023) was an American

contemporary art Contemporary art is a term used to describe the art of today, generally referring to art produced from the 1970s onwards. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a ...

ist and musician. He worked in the fields of

sound In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the br ...

and visual art, and is credited with pioneering lowercase music, a compositional style where quiet and usually unheard sounds are amplified to create complex and rich

soundscape A soundscape is the acoustic environment as perceived by humans, in context. The term, originally coined by Michael Southworth, was popularized by R. Murray Schafer. There is a varied history of the use of soundscape depending on discipline, ...

s. His discography of multiple albums and works of sound art includes '' Forms of Paper'', which was commissioned by the Los Angeles Public Library.

Biography

While he was a student at

Beverly Hills High School Beverly Hills High School (shortly as BHHS or Beverly) is a public high school in Beverly Hills, California. The other public high school in Beverly Hills is Moreno High School, a small alternative school located on Beverly Hills High School's c ...

from 1979 to 1982, Roden started a

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

band called the Seditionaries, who performed with bands such as

Circle Jerks Circle Jerks (stylized as Ciʀcle JƎʀᴋs) are an American hardcore punk band, formed in 1979 in Los Angeles, California. The group was founded by former Black Flag (band), Black Flag vocalist Keith Morris and Redd Kross guitarist Greg Hetso ...

, T.S.O.L. and The Damned. He received a

Bachelor of Fine Arts A Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) is a standard undergraduate degree for students pursuing a professional education in the visual arts, Fine art, or performing arts. In some instances, it is also called a Bachelor of Visual Arts (BVA). Background ...

from Otis Art Institute of Parsons School of Design (now

Otis College of Art and Design Otis College of Art and Design is a private art and design school in Los Angeles, California, United States. Established in 1918, it was the city's first independent professional school of art. The main campus is located in the former IBM Aero ...

) in 1986 and a Master of Fine Art from

ArtCenter College of Design The ArtCenter College of Design is a private art college in Pasadena, California. It was incorporated in 1930 as a degree-granting institution of higher learning in the US created specifically for students of both the visual arts and design. ...

in 1989. In 2013 Steve Roden's work was featured in a two-person exhibition with Jenny Perlin at the Cleveland Institute of Art, and in a solo exhibition at Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions. In 2010, a mid-career survey of Roden's work was presented at the Armory Center for the Arts, Pasadena, CA, curated by Howard Fox. Steve Roden was also a recipient of the 2011 Artist Grant of the Foundation for Contemporary Arts, and of a California Community Foundation Getty Fellowship Grant. His work has been featured in many exhibitions and museums around the world.

Personal life and death

Roden married Sari Takahashi in 1993; the couple lived in the Park La Brea section of Los Angeles. Roden was diagnosed with

Early-onset Alzheimer's disease Early-onset Alzheimer's disease (EOAD), also called younger-onset Alzheimer's disease (YOAD), is Alzheimer's disease diagnosed before the age of 65. It is an uncommon form of Alzheimer's, accounting for only 5–10% of all Alzheimer's cases. Ab ...

in 2017, and died at his home on September 6, 2023, at the age of 59.

Discography

This is an incomplete list. * ''The Secret of Happiness'' (1990) * ''So Delicate And Strangely Made'' (1993) * ''Humming Endlessly in the Hush'' (1995) * ''Translations & Articulations'' (1997) * ''Crop Circles'' (1997) * ''The House was Quiet and the World was Calm'' (1999) (with Brandon LaBelle) * ''The Opening of the Field'' (1999) (with Brandon LaBelle) * ''View'' (1999) * ''Four Possible Landscapes'' (2000) * '' Forms of Paper'' (2001) * ''Schindler House'' (2001) * ''Japan'' (2001) (with Bernhard Günter) * ''Winter Couplet'' (2002) * ''Light Forms'' (2003) * ''Speak No More About the Leaves'' (2003) * ''Airforms'' (2005) * ''Stars of Ice'' (2008) * ''Flower & Water'' (2014)

References

External links

Official website

Steve Roden
at

Discogs Discogs ( ; short for " discographies") is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. Database contents are user-generated, and described in ''T ...

*
Steve Roden and Stephen Vitiello
in ''

Bomb A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-transmitted mechan ...

'' * https://www.inbetweennoise.com/discography/collaborations/page/3/ 1964 births 2023 deaths American electronic musicians Artists from Los Angeles Deaths from Alzheimer's disease in California Deaths from dementia in California Performance art in Los Angeles Musicians from Los Angeles {{US-electronic-musician-stub