BIO
Born in 1988 in Washington DC, Harper spent the early part of his career as a keyboardist and composer in New York. From 2006 - 2010, he performed with a diverse range of artists including Theophilus London, Machinedrum, Jimmy Edgar, DMC (Run DMC) and M-1 (Dead Prez).
From 2010 to 2012, Harper was active as a part of Soundwalk Collective, which led to his first international exposure as a sound artist with exhibitions and performances at the Centre Pompidou, the New Museum, FIAF, and the National Museum of China.
Harper spent the following three years becoming a Buddhist monk and working as a priest in Tokyo, Japan. Upon returning to the US in July of 2015, he adopted the name 'Banrei', a word found on communal graves in Buddhist graveyards that translates to ’10,000 souls’. Under the name Banrei, he has exhibited and performed at numerous museums and arts institutions around the world, including the Tate Modern, the Drop Everything Biennial, and the Antarctica Pavilion during the 57th Venice Biennale of Art. He has exhibited solo shows at the Efrain Lopez Gallery and the Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio.
In 2015, Harper formed Public Decibel, an architecture firm that seeks to solve urban design and placemaking challenges with sound. Public Decibel most notably piloted a program in Malawi that leverages sound aesthetics and neurosciences to improve the efficacy of humanitarian aid delivery by reprogramming sirens on mobile medical trucks.
images
audio extracts
AMNMA
released 2015
mastering: Cristian Vogel
Mand Made Mastering, Berlin
CHA N DA N CHA
[Dawn - Titans burst remix]
released 2016
796 Bursts
released 2017
DA ZA DE ZA DA
[Cabaret Voltaire - Spies in the Wire burst remix]
released 2016
video extract
press excerpts/quotes
"Banrei's live performance and installation are used to frame a kind of ritual, within which audiences are asked to ponder subtle transformations of space and become aware of that which exists at the edge of perception."
"A former Buddhist priest–turned-performance artist based in Chicago is redefining the operatic experience with his new performance, Father's To I've To Father's, an opera that is performed entirely through text messages"
"The courage he had by sending me these bursts made him deserve broadcasting."
-Roland Kuit, programming at Concertzender FM, Netherlands
press links
select exhibitions and performances
2017
Mass Notification
Antarctic Pavilion, Venice Biennale of Art
796 Bursts [radio premiere]
Concertzender FM, Netherlands
2016
Spun
Cristopher Stewart Gallery, Chicago
All Internal
Silent Funny, Chicago
KISS2016
De Montfort University, Leicester UK.
Everything Must Go Art Fair
Heaven Gallery, Chicago
AMNMA
Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio, Oak Park IL
Anti-Siren
Blantyre, Malawi.
Re:
Pfizer factory, Brooklyn , NY
Spies in the Wires
with Michael Bevilacqua, PACT Galerie, Paris
Drop Everything Biennial
Inis Oirr, Ireland.
Offprint London at the Tate Modern
London
Manifest
Columbia College, Chicago
Get Clear On What You Think
Maxwell Colette Gallery, Chicago
Father’s to I’ve to Father’s
SMS messages to mobile phones
AMNMA
Silent Funny, Chicago
Thunder in Our Hearts
Noysky Projects, Los Angeles
AMNMA
Fabrik Expo, Los Angeles
AMNMA
Family Album Project Space, Chicago
2015
The Garden
Pershing Square, Los Angeles
Ephemeral Objects
San Diego Art Institute, San Diego
It's Too Late
Zhou B Art Center, Chicago
2012
“MEDEA: Zig Zag Series” Audio CD, photo book, and travel diary
Published by Dis Voir (With SWC)
Drop Everything Biennial
Inis Oirr, Ireland (with SWC)
MEDEA
Centre Pompidou, Paris (With SWC)
Well / Well / Not-at-all Solo Festival
ESORABAKO, Tokyo, Japan
Eavesdropping Festival
The Tank, New York.
2011
MEDEA
PS1 Art on Air, NYC (With SWC)
EN Movement Showcase: Anew
Tokyo Salon, Tokyo
Festival of Ideas for the New City Biennial
New Museum (With SWC)
The Passenger
French Institute Alliance Française concert at Florence Gould Hall, NYC (With SWC).
2010
Running Man (Opera)
Riverside Church, NYC.