6/10 manmade mountains and underground rivers in Las Vegas + Los Angeles

Matt Sargent and I are returning from the desert with manmade mountains and underground rivers, a forty-minute piece for trumpet, guitar, and electronics/field recordings, which was created during our experiences living and working as artists-in-residence at the remote Goldwell Open Air Museum in Rhyolite, NV in June 2010.

Our work at Goldwell is based entirely on materials gathered from Rhyolite and the Amargosa Desert, both physical constructions (set of chimes constructed from mining materials, contact mics placed on local fences and shrubs, a large “bottle fence” I installed at the site), to conceptual (computer analyses of wind patterns in the Amargosa Desert, and improvisation recorded at strip mining sites surrounding Rhyolite). Beyond all else, we are creating music with an intense awe for the resilience and severity of the desert climate – as the title suggests, the ability for the desert reclaim the remnants of strip mining operations back into mountains and canyons.

The music will be performed at:
– Goldwell Open Air on Sat. June 26, 7:00pm
– Place gallery in the Las Vegas Arts District on Thurs. July 1, 7-9pm
– Machine Project in Los Angeles, CA on Sat. July 3, 8pm

Bottle Fence for the Amargosa Desert // June 2010