semaphore island (detail)

the earliest sound recordings were made by a phonoautograph, a device that recorded sound but could not play it back. rather, the device, invented by edouard-leon scott de martinville in 1857, produced images generated by the sound in a pre-analogue process, using a crank, a boar's bristle and soot covered paper.

semaphore island is a mixed media installation utilizing found sound and early sound recording techniques. the sound element of this work is composed from historical field recordings of extinct bird species from the last 90 years. the images exhibited as part of the project are of these birdsongs, played through the last working phonautograph.

the songs of extinct species such as the kauai oo, guam flycatcher and hawaiian crow were then worked into silkscreen prints on glass and presented on a broken grid of shelves. the images of semaphore island intertwine image, space and sound, creating a lush and layered sonic environment that envelopes the viewer. as sound turns into drawing and unfurls notions of extinction and translation the piece is a documentation and chronicling of disappearance.

year: 2014 - ongoing

borrowed light (detail)

for borrowed light i worked with sunset park's stewards to gather data on the parkís local fauna; i collected field recordings of these native and visiting species and created a stereo soundscape for the installation. the sound emanated from speakers embedded inside the sculpture, and park visitors were invited to engage with sound and sculpture.

the project's sculptural element forms an architectural environment, acting as a focal point and physical marker for the presence of the less material sound piece, which at times completely meshes with the parkís ambient sounds. made out of several free-standing wood elements, this grouping draws on a modernist vocabulary, using forms that are anchored in a utilitarian past, echo the grid-lines of the city, and create a drawing in space.

the installation was accompanied throughout the duration of the exhibition by a series of community workshops with children and adults. one such workshop revolved around experimental sound practices in collaboration with an english language program in the neighborhood. this multi-part workshop, co-led by me with eli keszler engaged participants in hands-on sound experimentation with natural materials from the park such as leaves, sand and rocks. students wove into the main compositional arc contributions with their own instruments, folksongs and movement. this collaborative work used the installation as an actual stage-set and a soundscape to be layered over in a live performance.

year: 2015, comissioned by more art

city hall park

out of thin air, is the culmination of two years of interdisciplinary research and a series of experimental sound workshops. commissioned by more art, this six-channel installation was exhibited in new york at city-hall park in summer 2018. out of thin air is composed entirely out of breath sounds and invites the listener to consider breathing in all its enormity and intimacy. it seeks to highlight the uses and abuses of air and its place as our rightful commons.

for this project i embarked on a broad process of learning from practitioners and scientists about breath, air and breathlessness. the knowledge gleaned through these conversations was crucial in developing the dna of the piece and its hybrid methodology. with the idea of intertwining breathing practices with experimental sound practices i met with academics in the field of environmental health, community activists fighting for clean air and practitioners working with breath. a digital stethoscope developed by thinklabs, which allows for high quality recordings of internal breath-sounds and communal listening was also used in the process.

my leading partner in the breath and sound workshop was jessica wolfe, who has been teaching the alexander technique for almost 40 years and conducting research in respiratory function and breath throughout her career. participants learned from jessica methods of breathing and exercises to help them breathe in a more sustainable way. we also talked about theories of illness and how the lived experience breathlessness can affect the experience of architecture, landscape, and social structures.

kerry pompeo, the sound engineer took on the challenge of developing ways to capture our breaths in a way that will be legible and rich, not an easy task since breath is barely audible and often treated within the recording studio as a noise nuisance. we delved into the recording process both as participants as well as producers, and also listened to medical recordings of gravely ill people to get a visceral sense of what it means to really struggle for breath. when designing these workshops my aim was to have the recording process be a way of collecting strands of breath from the air. the sounds generated from these actions accrued meaning and vitality in large part because they were audio byproducts of the diverse actions of a group of people in a room, doing something together, sharing tools, thoughts and actions.

the piece is comprised of three vignettes with gaps of changing lengths between them. every time you listened to out of thin air in the park it would play out a little differently, it weaves itself into the site each time anew and changes roles between foreground and background as a day in the city unfolds. a as part of this project we also held a symposium at sva, and co-hosted with cue art foundation, that included interdisciplinary forums with environmental activists, sound historians and breathing practitioners.

year: 2018, comissioned by more art