A few things we made...
This fall I collaborated with students at Western Washington University to produce a 20 minute soundscape based on regional habitat zones. My primary function was as motivator, director, producer and fabricator. I learned how to build speakers from parts and also designed and constructed waterproof housing for the system… almost waterproof! It’s been a long process and we are still ironing out the kinks but the project was very well received and we are discussing how to make the new sound art “gallery” in the alley a permanent site! So much hard work went into it. Here is a little video to give a taste of the experience on opening day, November 19th, 2020. Deep gratitude to Professor Cynthia Camlin, her students in Art&Ecology, Margot Meyers and MindPort Exhibits and the Downtown Bellingham Partnership!
Collaboration with art students from Western Washington University. Field recordings by student artists based on regional habitat zones. Speaker system design and build, electric guitar by Sasha Petrenko
The second half of the video shows progress towards creating an interactive sound sculpture I’ve been developing for wow some time now. I’m using a Touch Board to trigger sound through proximity. It’s a wonderful tool using Arduino coding language. I had students use the same board this fall and they made some amazing work. Looking forward to teaching this class again when times are closer to how they once were. The sudden closures and shut downs, the pressure of the pandemic, almost subterranean at times, then suddenly piercing drains the energy, heart and spirit. But we made this thing and more>>>
Another collaboration with students and colleagues resulted in a video projection in downtown Bellingham. My students produced layered videos, working with students and colleagues in the dance department. Thank you to Senior Dance Instructor Susan Haines and her students for being so graceful, flexible and generous! The results were compiled into a 45 minute video that streamed outside in early December.
With all the lockdowns I also managed to go through some old footage from the past years to make a decent compilation of ForestTime: Fire. I’m happier with this than previous attempts at squeezing down a year long effort into 5 minutes so here it is:
All the layers speak to the process that took me to so many places, physically, spiritually. The way time folds over, or seems to happen all at once and even how pieces of the past slip away to return fully fleshed when one least expects. Creatively this is the last most developed work I’ve mustered. While some say this past year was generative, for me I felt like a deer in the headlights. Frozen. So a lot of my creative energy was poured into my teaching, cooking, yoga, running, playing music and organizing ways to gather safely with loved ones. I’m just beginning to feel something fresh… ForestTime: Water is drifting back into my mind. Now that I cut it down to 7 minutes from 20! It’s just a restart but it feels more authentic. And I am beginning to understand what water means here, in Bellingham, in the Pacific North West. One feels like your swimming in it this time of year. It’s so dark, and wet, and beautiful. You can get used to it.