2018 Season
Our second year of Constellations contains some of our most inspired original pieces, alongside an excellent back catalogue of established sound artists’ works. We started reaching out to artists around the world to gain insights into sound and audio works outside of North America, and to cultivate a community of artists listening to each other across borders and sonic traditions.
The common thread among many of these pieces is a search for space, the materiality of sound as an opening for expansion. Moments, quiet contemplation with birds and butterflies, seeking answers from ghosts, and conversations caught on tape about the heartaches of being human.
Vein of Sky (Winter #4)
Abinadi Meza
December 21, 2018
"I think the sonic space of the piece is kind of like a sculptural cast; it is imprinted and... "I think the sonic space of the piece is kind of like a sculptural cast; it is imprinted and formed by real space but it has become something other. Space, air...is so full of material. I wanted to collect some of it."
Heavy Summer
Rachel Ní Chuinn
December 7, 2018
"I had a baby last February. I wanted to make something that reflects some of my feelings about... "I had a baby last February. I wanted to make something that reflects some of my feelings about what that means, without necessarily too many words... I had a recording of Fán playing the piano and singing. I also rediscovered a field recording of a lawn mower in the Botanical Gardens in Dublin that I took a couple years ago which had this compelling drone-like sound."
El Primer Espacio
Sol Rezza
November 23, 2018
"This work reflects how human beings perceive the maternal uterus at the same time as our bodies... "This work reflects how human beings perceive the maternal uterus at the same time as our bodies and senses are developing. Our sense of hearing is not only related to the development of audition, but also to our understanding of all tactile sensations."
Mi Vida
Israel Martínez
November 9, 2018
"I wanted to make a non-linear narrative of a ride ending in a crash. I mean, this is the story,... "I wanted to make a non-linear narrative of a ride ending in a crash. I mean, this is the story, but the "events" are presented differently, going back and forth and connected through acoustic and gestural similarities - composition. I was influenced by literature and films based on this kind of structure."
Ode to the Salish Sea
Paolo Pietropaolo
October 26, 2018
"As the title suggests, my aim was to compose a lyrical tribute to the unique beauty of this... "As the title suggests, my aim was to compose a lyrical tribute to the unique beauty of this coastal region by capturing and recomposing the sounds and languages of the Salish Sea. I also wanted to explore the complexity of the relationship between the Indigenous and non-Indigenous cultures that call the Salish Sea home."
Iota Mikro
Aurélie Lierman
October 12, 2018
"iota mikro is set up like a dream sequence balancing between haunting flashbacks, desired and... "iota mikro is set up like a dream sequence balancing between haunting flashbacks, desired and imagined memories. All sounds in iota mikro are completely derived from my field recording sessions in Rwanda in 2011, crafted together through a very old school straightforward analog editing technique. It was my wish to fuse both my passions and professions, radio and composition into one composition."
It Was Right There In Front Of You
Camilla Hannan
September 27, 2018
"In this piece, I was thinking about how things right in front of you can tell you stuff that for... "In this piece, I was thinking about how things right in front of you can tell you stuff that for whatever reason you may be oblivious to. You may be distracted by other things or… you can’t or you don’t pay attention. That’s what it’s all about, paying attention."
Music to Wash Dishes By (This is of Course a Metaphor)
Olivia Bradley-Skill
August 10, 2018
"I remembered this Marvin Gaye clip, which I love, where he talks about music and love and pain... "I remembered this Marvin Gaye clip, which I love, where he talks about music and love and pain and memory, and it's really beautiful and inspiring. And the way he says his words and how he says them - he talks about heat and wounds, and they evoke real energy. I do everything by ear and I try to play around with and fiddle with different audio sources which move me and stick with me, and then I find meaning through that and see if it takes me anywhere new. "
Dr Faustus Begs to Come
Dylan Gauche
July 27, 2018
"I really just want to know what love is, and why it treats me so poorly sometimes. Even though... "I really just want to know what love is, and why it treats me so poorly sometimes. Even though this is far less detailed in its autobiographical elements than some other work I've done and put out into the world, it is by far my most vulnerable piece."
Black Beach
Chris Connolly
July 13, 2018
"I wanted to suggest how there are voices and forces that are acting on these men and holding... "I wanted to suggest how there are voices and forces that are acting on these men and holding space for something bigger -- whether or not they can see or hear it happening. As these men fall in and out of dialogue with each other, they are also falling in and out of dialogue with the spaces that hold and held them."
A Conversation
Kaija Siirala
June 29, 2018
This piece focuses particularly on the relationships to light and dark in their environments.... This piece focuses particularly on the relationships to light and dark in their environments. This understanding is not just one based in numbers and science, but at times uses a form of communication beyond the language of our world.
Maquinas Humanas
Joaquin Cófreces
June 15, 2018
"The voices were made with text to speech software to suggest that even humans can behave like... "The voices were made with text to speech software to suggest that even humans can behave like robots, losing their emotions, living lives of repetition while building invisible systems of control. I wanted to create a mechanical experience with an electronic rhythm, an artificial reality and a world full of tiny noises."
Refuse: military.01
Meira Asher
June 1, 2018
This complex manifesto of a piece is powerful both in its content and delivery. Noam's written... This complex manifesto of a piece is powerful both in its content and delivery. Noam's written testimony is powerful, but set against the rhythmic collage of percussion, sampling, and field recordings, its descriptions are rendered more raw and graphic. Meira's work is politically relevant as ever, and we're inspired by the bold and heartfelt stand she makes in all her work.
Birds of Maio
Maile Colbert, Rui Costa
May 18, 2018
"I took the birds of May that Rui had sent and I added and layered through that personal archive... "I took the birds of May that Rui had sent and I added and layered through that personal archive we had... and it became Birds of Maio, which is from a dedication album for, at the time, our future daughter, called Future Memory for Odette."
Snooze
TK Matunda
May 4, 2018
"I wanted to explore that time in the morning when I’m half-awake and half-asleep. For me, this... "I wanted to explore that time in the morning when I’m half-awake and half-asleep. For me, this usually happens after my first alarm goes off -- when I hit the snooze button. This time is special because it’s when my thoughts and feelings are the most fluid and intense. It’s a time where I feel without rationality or expectation or judgment. ID without EGO. And I just wanted to see if I could capture it."
In Search of the Miraculous (Bas Jan Ader)
Phoebe Wang
April 20, 2018
"I am a compulsive documenter - I need to believe that the next moment is going to be beautiful.... "I am a compulsive documenter - I need to believe that the next moment is going to be beautiful. This piece includes sounds I've recorded throughout my life, including art crits, phone calls, cab rides, and archival tape of my track and swim meets."
And If I Live A Thousand Lives I Hope to Remember One
Bonnie Jones
April 6, 2018
Bonnie's piece is grounded in the process of its creation and its physicality. Working her worn... Bonnie's piece is grounded in the process of its creation and its physicality. Working her worn out tape reel till it glitches and moans, Bonnie's work speaks to memory, ghosts, and chance.
Air Can Break Your Heart
Anna Friz
March 23, 2018
I often have dreams where I try to fly by leaning backward until I'm floating just above the... I often have dreams where I try to fly by leaning backward until I'm floating just above the ground, then apply a modified breaststroke until I gain some height in a room or over a street before sinking inevitably back toward the earth to try again. This radio art piece relates such dreams of rising and falling through the fragile element of air to imagined communications and melancholic longings of waking life, where static and noise communicate potential and effort but where the desired voices and connections are tantalizingly brief or out of earshot.
Dream Tapes
Jeff Emtman
February 23, 2018
The Dream Tapes Project is an ill-advised attempt to make meaning of dreams. While participants... The Dream Tapes Project is an ill-advised attempt to make meaning of dreams. While participants are waking up, they flip on a tape recorder and say everything they can remember from their sleep.
Swimming Through Butterflies
Karen Werner
February 9, 2018
The scoring of this piece feels raw and vivid - clearly the cello is a second narrator in this... The scoring of this piece feels raw and vivid - clearly the cello is a second narrator in this piece, seamlessly harmonizing with the speaking voice and pointing to both speech's and the narrative's musicality. This piece makes time slow right down, with musical interludes complex and abstract enough to bring the listener fully into this conjured fluttering space. On every listen, we're left with a potent sense of wonder.
Prairie Wind
Rignam Wangkhang
January 26, 2018
Listen to the sounds of the prairies and beyond, and be swept up across a vast and melancholic... Listen to the sounds of the prairies and beyond, and be swept up across a vast and melancholic landscape. In this piece, the wind is an omniscient character whose powers seem matched only by the anxious pulls of technology.
Walking in Bad Circles
Joan Schuman
January 12, 2018
"I think it was all of one period where I was collecting the audible traces of the desert, paying... "I think it was all of one period where I was collecting the audible traces of the desert, paying attention to experiences along this border that is so keenly present and easily ignored. What struck me was a single line from that news item, the allusion to the wanderer’s shaky mental state: “I’ve been walking in bad circles.” What are ‘good’ circles? A straight and linear walking?"