Single Channel HD Video, 8:18 min.
Performing vowels in the note of blue is a score for nondiscursive communication with(in) a grove of red pines somewhere in the Catskills. Planted by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s, this stand possesses the uncanny quality of a single species plantation gone wild. Five women (a,e,i,o,u) perform the vowels through the use of semaphore flags—a signaling system that augments the body to communicate across distances of land and sea. The movements—like language, like the forest—slip between structure and improvisation. Together, we consider how meaning is constructed in human and nonhuman worlds and imagine a space for communication between.
Risograph-printed broadsheet acts as a choreographic score and was provided as a takeaway for viewers during the exhibits. Conceived and directed by Jean Brennan. Performed by Felicia Ballos, Jean Brennan, Elizabeth Castagna, Alexa Beckham, and Amanda Punsoda. Cinematography by Rob Featherstone. Clothing by Colorant.
Installation at BAU Gallery in Beacon NY.
Link to video on Vimeo here.
Broadsheet available on Fruit & Rot.