out of the garden

Summer of 2016 marked my first project with the Detroit-based Nerve, a boundary-crushing performing arts company led by the brilliantly demented writer Kathe Koja. The summer piece, held in the garden of Ann Arbor cultural ambassadors Stan and Robin Mendenhall, was a take on Bosch's Garden of Earthly Delights. For the piece, I broadcasted sounds out to radios (designed for me by the ever-talented Eric Sheffield) that were spaced throughout the audience space. The sounds of my bass were affected and combined with the sounds of bells and voices. I performed acoustically perched on a raised folly, nearly nude in an amazing bird mask made by Mary Perrin. (Basically the ideal performance setting.) Movement artists Marianne Brass and Rachael Ahn Harbert brought the garden to life and became the interface for the audience. The sculptures and designs of remarkable artist Rena Hopkins mutated the environment.
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Currently working on a finalized recorded version of the piece, which will likely take me through the fall.

Also through the fall, I'm working on Nerve's next piece--one that will proved to be much darker. Night School, based on Marlowe's Faustus, will be staged on January 21st at the Jam Handy in Detroit.