Fourth Horizon (2016, collaboration with Susy Bielak)

Fourth Horizon is a meditation on the psychic pull of living in a city with water as a constant eastern horizon. Inspired by a 1920s photograph of a stage floating over Lake Michigan, the multimedia installation—consisting of a looping video, polyvocal audio, and sculpture—reflects on the space for imagination in urban life.

The video is of a facsimile of the 1920s stage that we created and installed in Lake Michigan in 2015 (Set design and construction by Lauren Nichols and Britain Wilcock). We paired the video with a four-channel sound installation re- imagining a 1924 radio broadcast of a telepathy experiment, with language sourced from dozens of writers around the country. The underscore is a composite of six musicians’ improvisatory responses to the video itself.

In conjunction with exhibition at the Experimental Sound Studio, we used the space a laboratory to produce a four-channel sound installation and a series of alternate audio scores for the project. We hosted three public programs in the studio’s live room: “Spontaneous Cases,” a reading of experimental short stories with a live sound mix by Damon Locks; “Bodies of the City,” a participatory chorale reading of poems related to water and architecture; and “Afternoon for Improvisors,” an event where improvising musicians responded to the installation.

As a counterpoint to the Lake Stage video, we created an isolation booth modeled after testing stations used in telepathy experiments from mid-20th century laboratories. Just as the video is a site of projection, the isolation booth is a site for interiority.

Collaboration with Susy Bielak

Single-channel video, 4-channel sound installation, sculpture, public programs

Stage fabrication by Lauren Nichols and Britain Wilcock, sound designed with Stephen Moore, who produced sound algorithm  

Video production crew included Meredith Zielke, director of production; Rodrigo Brum, Lyle Kash, and Julia Pello, cameras; Lauren Nichols and Britain Wilcock, stage design and construction; Hasan Demirtaş, Michael Garrity, Raul Jaimes, Lyle Kash, Nicole Mauser, and Greg Mrowka, crew; Julia Pello, video editing

Written contributions from: Julka Almquist, Toby Altman, Dana Bassett, Debby Bielak, Susy Bielak, Alisa Chanin, João Enxuto, Dianna Frid, Sarah Fox, Dobby Gibson, Amber Ginsberg, Sam Gould, Katie Hargrave, Jamie Hayes, Rachel Herman, Merve Kayan, Raul Jaimes, Addie Juell, Erik Kensrud, Michael Kramer, Cara Megan Lewis, Sarah Manguso, Erik Moe & Amy Morse, Nuria Montiel, Ira Murfin, GE Patterson, John Pluecker, Faith Purvey, Megha Ralapati, Claire Rice, Frances Richard, Frank Rose, Sarah Ross, Bureen Ruffin, Fred Schmalz, Daniel Tucker, Holly Warren, Lynn Xu, Angel Ysaguirre

Text voiced by: Sarah Aylward, Susy Bielak, Matthew Corey, Rachel Galvin, Jamie Hayes, Alejandro Figueredo Diaz-Perera, Dianna Frid, Cara Megan Lewis, Damon Locks, Jessica Love, David Macey, Nuria Montiel, William Mazzarella, Didier Morelli, Ira Murfin, Claire Rice, Ellen Rothenberg, Eben Saling, Fred Schmalz, Holly Lee Warren, Bob Webb, and Angel Yasguirre

Musical underscoring by: Ted Gordon (Buchla Synthesizer), Jeremy Harris (Piano), Seth Parker Woods (Cello), William Mazzarella (Guitar), Joseph Clayton Mills (Electronics), and  Adam Vida (Drums). Each played solo

 Produced in 2017 in context of residency and exhibition at Experimental Sound Studio, curated by Lou Mallozzi