Steven Speciale

On-site event June 7th

Obon is a reflection on my Japanese grandparents’ time in the WWII American concentration camps.

Obon is a Japanese Buddhist holiday honoring ancestors who return to earth for a visit- like a Japanese “Dia del los Muertos.” Part of the celebration includes spiritual conveyances called “shoryoma.” One is an eggplant “cow”who lumbers back laden with gifts.I repurposed a japanese lantern as an eggplant shoryoma, simultaneously evoking the akari lamps of Isamu Noguchi, an artist with whom I share a similar mixed ethnic heritage. The lamp is covered with family photos and documents related to travel during the “camp days.” The wall decor and sign are interpretations of my grandparents’ grocery.

The sounds are my transcription of Jiro’s Theme from the 70’s Japanese kid show Kikaida for prepared piano. Tape loops create the rest of the soundscape. Ignorant of my Japaneseness growing up, I learned about much of my culture through TV and through the orientalisms of composers like John Cage.

earmaginations On-site & Online June 7th

At Midnight
Inspired by Gustav Mahler’s song from his Ruckert Lieder of the same name, “At Midnight” is an extension of a project called “Blues-Birds.” “Blues-Birds” were cyanotyped collages celebrating Black musicians. The birds were sampled from Audubon’s famous paintings. Audubon was a slave-owner, and is known more for his beautiful paintings than his virulent racism. Thus the transformed birds become a metaphor for the ways beauty can hide ugliness. Their blue color, realized by sunlight, refers to the Blues. The birds in the movie are animated, projected, and filmed.

Do Not Look Into My Songs
Inspired by Gustav Mahler’s song from his Ruckert Lieder of the same name, the video used AI tools to digitally “rotoscope” stock images of bees and “green screen” them onto musical instruments instead of flowers. The bees were “painted” with ASCII code. The film explores the tension between AI and analog activities in musical vocations. None of the AI is generative; all the footage is stock.