Finding as Making
Singing No Songs
"Everybody has a song which is no song at all: it is a process of singing and when you sing you are where you are." John Cage
Finding as Making // Singing No Songs interweaves two primary concerns: how humans interact with 'natural' environments, and how technologies shape embodied performance practices. Since 2005, I have been exploring embodiment and technology in my work as a singer and electronic musician. My interest in soundscapes (both urban and other) springs from my work as a site-specific improviser beginning in 2009.
Throughout this project, walking was the process by which I experienced and examined both outer and inner spaces--listening to and recording soundscapes, as well as my own (sometimes song-like but always improvised) vocalizations. Thus I aimed to physically ground myself in the beautiful, imperiled ecosystems prosaically called: the slopes of the Boise National Forest, the chaparral of the Santa Cruz Mountains, the banks of Putah Creek, the shores of Lake Merritt.
I have composed vibrations from these and other spaces & voices into three fixed-media pieces that are 'located' on the web. You can find more information, including free audio downloads, via the links on the left. (Just click the pictures.)
Some of these sounds also found their way into listening ears
via live performances on January 9 & 10, 2014 at the University
of California, Davis, where I invited the audience to witness
my process of discovering anew the ongoing material effects
of places that I have walked through and (sonic) events that
I have experienced and produced. Video documentation can
be found via the link on the right. (Click on the image.)
Many thanks for the kind assistance of Hillary Haymond, Kelly Love & Katie Tenerelli, Ned Jacobson, Erin Carlson, Catherine Norman, Duskin Drum, Lona Kozik & Sam Richards, Alyssa Harad, Emelie Mahdavian, and as always, Peiling Kao. This project would not have been possible without the generous support of the UCDavis HArCS Graduate Summer Fellowship Program, the Institute for Exploration in Theatre, Dance and Performance (ITDP), and the Djerassi Resident Artists Program (DRAP).
