5 December 2017 @ ENSA - limoges (France)
my dog and I
Animals are not lesser humans; they are other worlds
-- Barbara Noske
Nature is given our history, even as our history is made to seem natural because we see ourselves in these animate multiform mirrors.
-- Donna Haraway
Like many children, I loved and trusted animals far more than people and wanted to be a veterinarian when I grew up. Though I became a composer, animals of all kinds have influenced by work in many ways. My piece Nature Data is made entirely from animal sounds, ranging from different species of frogs and cicadas to the sound of maggots eating rice, coyotes and bears; in my opera set phasers on KILL! the characters communicate using animal sounds. My piece Silently and Very Fast was commissioned for performance at a World Wildlife Fund benefit and features the sounds of wolf packs and wood storks. The score focusses on the chemical conditions in which the marine life of the waters around Manhattan function - an environment so rich in fluoxetine (the active chemical component of SSRI anti-depressants including Prozac) that the fish who swim there all have it in their systems.
For some time I have planned on a series of works focussed on interspecies collaboration. This has been a goal ever since I began my studies as a composer and dreamed of including my Jack Russell terrier Billy in my work. My thinking in this regard has been influenced by works such as The Companion Species Manifesto of Donna Haraway and the writings of Dutch environmentalist Barbara Noske.
I’m well aware of works by artists such as Joseph Beuys and Oleg Kulik which position animals within the gallery space. In writing a work which brings a dog onto the concert stage, I would seek to create a space for contemplation of what it means for us to exist alongside, through and with animals. Barbara Noske writes, “good participatory observation is basically an exercise in empathy while at the same time one is aware of the impossibility of total knowledge and total understanding.” I hope through this to make a work which encourages the audience to exercise empathy and listening towards other species.
-- Barbara Noske
Nature is given our history, even as our history is made to seem natural because we see ourselves in these animate multiform mirrors.
-- Donna Haraway
Like many children, I loved and trusted animals far more than people and wanted to be a veterinarian when I grew up. Though I became a composer, animals of all kinds have influenced by work in many ways. My piece Nature Data is made entirely from animal sounds, ranging from different species of frogs and cicadas to the sound of maggots eating rice, coyotes and bears; in my opera set phasers on KILL! the characters communicate using animal sounds. My piece Silently and Very Fast was commissioned for performance at a World Wildlife Fund benefit and features the sounds of wolf packs and wood storks. The score focusses on the chemical conditions in which the marine life of the waters around Manhattan function - an environment so rich in fluoxetine (the active chemical component of SSRI anti-depressants including Prozac) that the fish who swim there all have it in their systems.
For some time I have planned on a series of works focussed on interspecies collaboration. This has been a goal ever since I began my studies as a composer and dreamed of including my Jack Russell terrier Billy in my work. My thinking in this regard has been influenced by works such as The Companion Species Manifesto of Donna Haraway and the writings of Dutch environmentalist Barbara Noske.
I’m well aware of works by artists such as Joseph Beuys and Oleg Kulik which position animals within the gallery space. In writing a work which brings a dog onto the concert stage, I would seek to create a space for contemplation of what it means for us to exist alongside, through and with animals. Barbara Noske writes, “good participatory observation is basically an exercise in empathy while at the same time one is aware of the impossibility of total knowledge and total understanding.” I hope through this to make a work which encourages the audience to exercise empathy and listening towards other species.
with Martine Altenburger, clara cornil
26 October 2017 @ molière scène d'aquitaine - Bordeaux (France)
5 December 2017 @ ENSA - limoges (France)
from 5 to 7 January 2018 @ Centre Culturel André Malraux - Vandoeuvre-lès-Nancy (France)
31 January 2018 @ Le Cellier - reims (France)
1 February 2018 @ ACB Scène Nationale - bar-le-duc (France)
from 6 to 7 February 2018 @ Centre Culturel André Malraux - Vandoeuvre-lès-Nancy (France)
from 13 to 14 April 2018 @ Simone - Châteauvillain (France)
27 November 2018 @ La Métive - Le Moutier d'Ahun (France)
4 December 2019 @ Salle A Capella - Besné (France)