Stephen Vitiello
Born: 1964
Birthplace: New York City
Gender: Male
Occupation: visual and sound artist
Stephen Vitiello is a talented person who is an electronic musician and sound artist, which collects works such as independent films, investigational video projects and art settings. He was first a guitarist in punk bands in 1978 when he was 14 years old. After attending college, he studied literature and plastic arts. In 1988, he found a job at an arts center and started becoming successful in his career, creating video and sound art presentations. In 1999, he was asked to record the cracking noises of the 91st floor of World Trade Center’s Tower One, after the Hurricane Floyd. This helped him come across with aesthetic and unique sounds.
“I am interested in the physicality of sound and its potential to define the shape, feel and color of a room. I wish to explore how people receive sound and how I may create a work, with no visual component, that a viewer will be enticed into listening with the attention that they would give to a visual or audio-visual work.” – Stephen Vitiello
The person who had a massive influence on Vitiello’s life was a video artist Nam June Paik. He is the person Vitiello started working with in 1991 and examining his creativity. After coming across with Paik, Vitiello entered into a different world. Nam June Paik is a composer, performer, and video artist who is best known for introducing artists and audiences to the idea of using video for artistic expression. From being a punk guitarist, Stephen changed his ideas into a reconciling path for himself. In wanting to change, Vitiello began to experiment with guitar and electronics, finally focusing on the physical sound, at the same time losing interest in rock.
Like other sound artists, Vitiello also does more than just create sound. He was first a guitarist, and then became interested in video making and movies. While getting involved with different things, artists will be able to experiment with different sounds. These sounds can either be reconciling or irritating, it doesn’t matter to the sound artists. They would investigate them by either listening to them or trying them out themselves.
The difference between him and other artists is that he puts different things together, and is particularly interested in the physical features of sound and its likelihood to describe the beauty and atmosphere of the environment. At the same time with making sound, he also examines them. He listens to different sounds to have an idea of how people receive them and where it’s coming from.
