For Robbie Wing (וארנה הנאו בת אדולף)

Useful Contaminants was a two-person exhibition curated by Grace Harmer for Everything That Happens Will Happen Today at the Hessel Museum of Art (April 4–May 24, 2026). As Harmer writes, the exhibition "brings together artists Robbie Wing and Erik DeLuca, whose works amplify that which remains unseen or unheard, foregrounding the politics of attention through practices of critical listening."

Wing presented Dirt Speaker Box, a newly commissioned installation in which organic materials from the Mahicannituck River Valley were encased in an unsealed, transparent container with special microphones buried beneath its surface. Through feedback, the work produced a subtle, continuous sound that shifted in response to visitors and changing environmental conditions.

In response to Wing's installation, I presented For Robbie Wing (וארנה הנאו בת אדולף), an evolving constellation of objects, texts, transmissions, and archival references. At the core of the project was a rotating series of object/scores—-part material object, part prompt for listening and interpretation—-centered on a depth sounding line. Echoing the maritime instrument used to measure unseen depths, these works functioned as navigational devices and speculative scores about related infrastructures of law, land, and memory. Presented alongside Dirt Speaker Box, the object/scores were meant to open up spaces for tuning in and conversation—one grounded in listening, but not necessarily in agreement.

As part of the exhibition's related programming, Robbie and I presented a collaborative performance inside the Hessel Museum. The performance was live streamed on Wave Farm Radio.