[See][Saw][Sound][Wave]

This group exhibition at FR MoCA (April 4th - July 18th, 2025), curated by Harry Gould Harvey IV, featured Alvin Lucier, Aviva Silverman, Laurie Spiegel, Pauline Oliveros, and myself. At its center were two parabolic whisper mirrors designed by Harry to reflect and amplify sound based on the listener’s position. Rooted in my mentorship with Alvin, we also centered Vespers, a 1969 performance work in which Sondols—handheld “sonar-dolphins” that emit clicks—are used to echolocate and explore architectural space. On opening night, we performed Vespers with artist Qais Assali and rapper Enongo A. Lumumba-Kasongo, using Alvin’s original Sondols. The work invited listeners to move relationally, where echolocation became both technique and metaphor for navigating the unknown. For the duration of the exhibition, a video document of this performance was installed alongside a Sondol prototype I began in 2017, after Alvin asked me to adapt his device for underwater communication with dolphins. Though never completed due to his passing, the prototype carried the imprint of his imagination—drifting somewhere between sound and dreams.

As a gesture of sonic memory and continuity with past collaborations, we installed Still Lines (Marfa Sounding Mix, 2016) in the museum’s bathroom—a 30-minute work developed during Marfa Sounding, curated by Jennifer Burris Staton. The mix weaves together field recordings I made of performances and acoustic environments: Pauline Oliveros’ Sonic Meditations (1971) performed by Marfa Middle-High School band students, Vespers in the desert, Lucier’s Sferics, and Éliane Radigue’s Naldjorlak I. This layering of site-specific sound deepened [See][Saw][Sound][Wave]’s engagement with resonance across time and space. The exhibition was also activated by a series of listening events, including a performance of Oliveros’ I of IV by students from Alex Chechile’s RISD course—an act of historical interpretation that echoed the show’s broader themes. Special thanks to Ron Kuivila, Brittni Ann Harvey, Zoe Roden, and Jak Ritger.

A Lab for Listening, Visualizing Sound, and Collective Resonance at Fall River MoCA
Shana Garr for The Boston Art Review

[See] [Saw] [Sound] [Wave]
Caitlin Anklam for The Brooklyn Rail