Merlin Coleman has created a three-part song cycle utilizing the sonic and spatial possibilities of Audium.
In her work, Merlin questions the uniquely-human practice of extracting resources out of the earth and disposing undesirables back into it, told through the complex stories of two places — a quarry and a landfill. The piece stacks, embeds, loops, and layers Merlin's voice with cello, piano, the sounds of objects and nature. Meanwhile, recorded interviews with local activists, artists, ecologists, small business owners, garbage collectors, neighbors and government officials comment on the practices of landfills and quarrying. In the lobby, media artist Catherine Hollander's video projections poetically survey quarry sites, considering the human body as landscape.
EXPLORATIONS of EXTRACTION and DECAY : a Palliative Song Cycle for Bodies and Stuff : premieres September 7th and continues through September 30th, 2023. Performances are every Thursday, Friday & Saturday at 7:30 PM