Immersive Sound Art * Environmental activism * Video Installation * Space as Instrument * Spoken word * Performances Thurs/Fri/Sat nights through Sept. 30th

SAN FRANCSICO, CA, UNITED STATES, September 6, 2023/EINPresswire.com/ -- Exploding in layers of voice, cello, piano, and the sounds of objects, “EXPLORATIONS of EXTRACTION and DECAY,” a new work by Merlin Coleman, offers an eccentric cycle of stories, songs, and sculpted soundscapes forming a non-linear meditation on hoarding, excess, and remains.

“My work explores the uniquely human practice of extracting resources from the earth and disposing undesirables back into it,” Coleman says. The piece stacks, embeds, loops, and layers her voice with cello, piano, the sounds of objects and nature, and recorded interviews of local activists, artists, ecologists, small business owners, garbage collectors, neighbors, administrative personnel, and government officials commenting on the practices of landfills and quarrying. Interviews focus on issues around a proposed quarry five miles west of Cotati, on Roblar Road, in rural Sonoma County, near where she resides.

Featured artists at Audium are offered a unique opportunity to explore sound movement, texture, and spatialization within our one-of-a-kind, pitch-black 176-speaker space. Unlike any other theater in the world, Audium is an instrument, where sound and music is moved by the artist in real time. Originally conceived for quadraphonic surround sound, Merlin Coleman has re-designed and re-sequenced her original recordings to take advantage of Audium’s system.

Coleman notes, “I have always thought of this work in spatial terms, that an audience member can feel they are living, for a short time, directly inside of the worlds created. This is integral to the intention of the work and thus makes it a particularly good fit for the instrument of Audium.”

Sound Engineering for “EED” is contributed by Coleman’s longtime collaborator Eric Oberthaler.

IN THE LOBBY: Media Artist Catherine Hollander’s video projections poetically survey quarry sites, refuse, and consider the human body as landscape. Presented in Audium’s pre-show space and gallery.

ARTIST BIO: Merlin Coleman is a multimedia artist working in performance, recordings, projects, and productions. A graduate of the California Institute of the Arts (MFA, Composition) Coleman has presented her work in the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Kyoto and Tokyo. Venues include: Collective Unconscious, de Young Museum, Dance Mission, The Lab, Mills College, SoMarts, 21 Grand, and Venue 9. Coleman has been awarded numerous artist residencies, has produced two full-length albums, and her work is included on multiple compilations. Coleman founded the Tower Residency, a hosted artist’s retreat in Sonoma County and Milk Bar, an artist-curated salon series providing an environment for the intersection of innovative, contemporary, and experimental artistic genres.

ABOUT AUDIUM: A San Francisco original, built over 50 years ago and updated in 2020, Audium provides an experience unlike anything available anywhere else in the world. Listeners are bathed in sound and music, which is moved around the space in real-time. These "sound sculptures" are performed for audiences in complete darkness in the 49-seat theater. The experience begins at the entrance to the building, with a permanent sound installation at the front door, and continuing with visual-and-audio pieces in the lobby gallery, installed by selected artists in relation to the current show. Audience members then traverse a short pitch-black labyrinth, also alit with sound, to enter the space.

SHOW INFO: Merlin Coleman’s “EXPLORATIONS of EXTRACTION and DECAY: a palliative song cycle for bodies and stuff” premieres September 7th and continues through September 30th, 2023. Performances are every Thursday, Friday & Saturday; doors open at 7:00pm, show begins promptly at 7:30pm. Admission: $20-$30. Venue has updated HVAC and cleaning procedures for Covid safety. Tickets on sale now.

Read more about the featured artist here: merlinman.com

Dave Shaff
Audium
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Excerpt (30 seconds) of "Explorations of Extraction and Decay" by Merlin Coleman

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