Soniferous Juniper
Live Performance
Found, 1200+ year old-juniper tree, nylon webbing, copper wire, clamps, ratchet, cello bow
1260" x 144” x 144”
Site-responsive sound performance in southern California which experiments with listening to the tree—as well as its interactions with the sound sculpture and with its surrounding environment—on a more-than-human timescale.
The installation was temporary and left no trace on the tree or the environment.
2023
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https://ucnrs.org/earths-oldest-trees-losing-climate-race/
https://ucnrs.org/reserves/white-mountain-research-center/
collaboration w the oldst living tree in the world/
Family heirlooms in conversation w bristlcone trees
Ie resonant brass objects,
an experiemtanl x ie convo w one fo the oldest living organisms on the planet
methusalean soundscapes
sneak peek into my newest project, “Soniferous Elderflorae.” I welded this sound sculpture and bowed it inside the resonant, fire-scarred caves of living bristlecone pines. (No trees were physically touched in any way). These trees can live to be five thousand years old, and the project felt like a conversation with time. the great basin is becoming hotter and drier, which makes it hard for regeneration
welded sound scultpure,
Brass animals, brass objects/family herilimes, brass animasl from sea sax, resonance, bows, drunsticks, tripod, camera , batteries, sd cards, zoom, zoom batteries,
the tree was not touched,
Redo juniper tree (w tripod, pan up), actually tho w bristlecone. But don’t touch the tree. So how capture the resonance? Chiming, hand-tension the wire. Geophone w the bristlecones? Well, ue the hydrophone, put that in soil. Try w contact mic and hydrophone here in soil, around trees at home first. Chime test for resonance. Bristlecones and the pyrocene. Elderflora.
inside the cave bowing the instrument, when:), bristlecone trees (trip up n?, org plan, apply uc reservers, methuselah tree, when:), see writing for soniferous juniper proj, call it elderflora, or soniferous elderflora. An ancient bristlecone tree also plays into the score. A chime was held in the hollow belly of a fire-scarred bristlecone tree and sounded, capturing the resonant structure of the tree. When we hear the vibrations of these fibers, we are hearing the acoustical anatomy of a tree, the resonance of centuries of climatic phenomena—culminating with a series of sudden climate change-exacerbated firestorm events—acting upon an organism. These acoustical experimentations aim to open our minds to different timescales, to queer socioecological histories and speculative futurities. (The installation was temporary and did not involve touching the tree).
When redo jbristlecone tree:, early am light, use tripod to pan up, video also me playing
durational site resoponsive research
the bristlecone tree was not touched in this project.
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Chimes, cybmals for resonance
Piano wire hand tensioned and viola bow
These found-object resonators amplify the remainder of the installation situated in the back-room. Here, a plywood work-table serves as an acoustic transducer for electromagnetically activated piano wires, and as the main staging area for an assembly of machine ‘performers.’ Each lethargically performs a repetitive task, contributing to an endlessly fluctuating sound track of shimmering harmonics, sudden crescendos and arrhythmic beats.