Daniel Fishkin will discuss the relationship between the daxophone's identity in the world and its role as an instrument maker through the figures of Pinnochio, the wooden puppet who comes to life, and Geppetto, the woodcarver who carves him from pine wood. In her ethnographic portrait of guitar makers in America, Katherine Dudley uses the metaphor of Geppetto to describe the craftsman's motivation and social status in contemporary society. Daniel Fishkin builds on Dudley's metaphor, exploring how he himself became a Geppetto figure, and what it would take for the daxophone to transcend its easy temptation of animal imitations or sound effects and emerge as a real instrument. The daxophone is a carved strip of hardwood played with a bow. It was invented in 1987 by German typeface designer Hans Reichel. The instrument's sound, somewhere between a cello and a badger, ranges from furtive gurgles to delicate whistles to wild screams.
Daniel Fishkin is a sound artist, composer, and musical instrument builder. He earned his Master's degree in Music Composition from Wesleyan University and has taught courses in instrument design and electronic music at Bard College, Cooper Union, and, most recently, Ramapo College of New Jersey. He is currently a PhD candidate in Composition and Computer Music at the University of Virginia.
Daniel's work, which investigates the aesthetics of hearing impairment, has been featured in international press (Nature Journal, 2014), and he was awarded the title of "tinnitus ambassador" by the Deutsche Tinnitus-Stiftung. He studied with composer Maryanne Amacher and multi-instrumentalist Mark Stewart. He is the only luthier who studied directly with the inventor of the daxophone, Hans Reichel.
He has performed as a modular synthesizer soloist with the American Symphony Orchestra, developed sound installations in concert halls, and performed in numerous venues in countries such as the United States, Canada, California, Norway, Germany, France, Japan, Kazakhstan, and Australia. Daniel Fishkin has been building and playing daxophones for 20 years. Since 2019, he has received over 75 commissions from musicians around the world.
The presentation is part of the program "Sounds, Images and Words – Transatlantic Dialogues," organized by Catarina Real with the support of the Luso-American Foundation, and partially hosted by the School of Arts. Admission is free.