*MUSICAL ECOLOGIES POP-UP EVENT*
FRIDAY MAY 29, 2015, 8:00 PM (Reception at 7:00 PM)
Admission by contribution ($10 suggested)
BETH O'BRIEN & CRAIG SHEPARD – On Foot: Brooklyn Book Release Party
The Old Stone House
in Washington Park, 3rd Street & 5th Avenue
Park Slope, Brooklyn – Map
718-768-3195 –
Musical Ecologies continues Friday May 29th with a special event celebrating the release of Beth O’Brien and Craig Shepard’s new book On Foot: Brooklyn (Blank Foot Press, Wandelweiser Series #4). The book documents a three-month period (February 21 to May 21, 2014) during which Shepard traveled solely on foot throughout New York City. As part of the project, he composed a new piece each week which he performed on Sunday at the endpoint of a silent, cell-phone-free walk he led from Greenpoint, Brooklyn to a different outdoor public space in Brooklyn. O’Brien accompanied him every Sunday on bike photographing along the routes he walked, which covered much of Brooklyn. Her images capture moments of quiet and solitude within a colorful and sometimes crumbling landscape, conveying a sense of vastness and diversity that may surprise those who have not traversed Brooklyn on foot. The resulting book combines these images with Shepard’s writings on a range of topics related to the project including silence, sound and listening.
The evening will include a conversation between the artists and series curator Dan Joseph, and will culminate in a multi-media performance by the artists based on the project.
The event will also coincide with an exhibition of O’Brien’s photography in the Great Room of the Old Stone House that will run from May 29th to June 21st.
Musical Ecologies is a monthly symposium on music and sound held every 2nd Thursday (except where noted) at the Old Stone House in Park Slope, Brooklyn. Curated and hosted by composer Dan Joseph, each event typically focuses on a single artist who presents a work or project either in the form of a talk or lecture, a multimedia presentation, a performance, or combination thereof. Each presentation is preceded by a 30-minute conversation with the curator and audience.
About the artists:
Beth O’Brien has never lost her wonder at how the world is both captured and transformed in photography. Through an iterant childhood marked by a steady stream of museum visits, she developed both a highly observant nature and a love of formal composition. Her carefully framed photographs can transform the most prosaic street scene into a complex composition of color, texture, light and forms while poignantly capturing the quiet moments of human existence.
Craig Shepard (composer, trombone) makes music related to stillness. A longtime member of the Wandelweiser network, he grew up in Connecticut where he would go for long walks in the middle of snowy nights, stopping to listen to the sheen of millions of snowflakes hitting the ground. He wants to share this connection with sound. Recent projects include Trumpet City and the Music for Contemplation Series in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
Facebook event page: facebook.com/events/452839641546737
Upcoming: Season Wrap Party with Special Guests (6/11)