Soundings: Artist Statement
“Soundings” consists of three works of installation eco-art in protest of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, titled:
Soundings
When you take a sounding, you measure the depth of a body of water in fathoms and feet. You want to be able to navigate the waters freely.
This triad of outdoor installation art and poetry pieces takes the measure of our resistance to the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline. We pull the line up out of the depths and say our resistance is many fathoms deep and our resistance is broad and our resistance will be sustained—and as the line comes up the wind may catch it and there is a reverberation; we are sounding off. We are expressing ourselves both forcefully and joyfully—because we are in this together and coming together as a community, and joining different communities together in this resistance makes us strong.
You will hear the sound of bells in the trees, the sound of glass clinking against glass above a circle of spring water, the sound of a joyful noise of rhythm instruments played by guests and children and the community. The music is our way of saying NO. We refuse this pipeline. We won’t have it, and we will keep saying NO because our resistance is imbued with and emanates from the landscapes in which we are rooted, and the strength of our common purpose.
You will hear the joyful noise, and the rhythm of protest reflected in the soundscapes and in the music of the poems and essays that constitute this work of land art.
The companies proposing an eminent domain land grab for private gain do not want us to raise up our voices. They think they can quell the rural people, the people of color, Native Americans, landowners and small businesses that will be devastated by their fracked-gas pipeline. So the music of “Soundings” is here to say that we refuse to stay silent in the face of this environmental outrage that threatens our children, our homes, our waterways, our wells and our woods.
Participatory Gamelan
What is the sound of people making the music of resistance, of refusal to have their voices suppressed, refusal to quell their songs of fortitude and love of the land, their celebration of place in song? The Participatory Gamelan is a rhythm instrument table and a communal gathering space with a variety of chimes, shakers, bells and instruments. Lacy rusted gas canisters found abandoned on the land; shakers filled with sacred Ponca corn (the Seeds of Resistance carried from the states where the Keystone XL pipeline is being fought); a cedar branch strung with jingles from local brewery and cidery bottle caps; liqueur glasses that belonged to a neighbor's grandmother: the instruments of the Gamelan remind us of the landscapes and people we hold dear and want to protect from pipeline explosions or erosion and sedimentation into pristine waterways.
This piece includes the poem “strange weather.”
Glass Harmonium
What is the sound made by the forest when the big machines come to tear down our mountain ridges and plow down ancient trees? What is the sound of our clear waterways clogged from blasting and digging and mountaintop removal?
The kinetic energy of the wind through the trees, near this spring-fed circle of water, is transformed into the song of the Glass Harmonium. The glass chimes of this piece are mainly quiet, unless the wind is strong; they express our dismay at the possible destruction, provide a meditative space in which to enjoy the natural sounds of the meadow and woods. The gently-turning mobile is reflected in the pool. The pool is alive with frogs. The winter wren and Flicker call nearby. Sit quietly for a moment and listen.
This piece includes the poems “Floaters,” and “knotted.”
Signal to Noise
What is that sound in the trees, like hundreds of little bells? Let us make music on behalf of the trees and support these beings who have purified our air, who communicate soundlessly through root networks, who give shelter and food to countless animals. Decorative orange ribbons attached to bells are strung through the woods, along the proposed path of the pipeline looking just like the plastic survey tape, but with bells on!
Resounding
“Soundings” is dedicated to the preservation of the land and to stopping the ravages of the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline, a fracked gas pipeline that is not needed to meet our state’s energy needs and that will not bring any economic benefit to the citizens along the proposed route but instead will have negative impacts on safety, on drinking water and waterways, on community health, on local economies and on the environment. The hills resound with the voice of the people saying “No Pipeline.”
©2017 Amelia L. Williams
“Soundings” consists of three works of installation eco-art in protest of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, titled:
- Participatory Gamelan
- Glass Harmonium
- Signal to Noise
Soundings
When you take a sounding, you measure the depth of a body of water in fathoms and feet. You want to be able to navigate the waters freely.
This triad of outdoor installation art and poetry pieces takes the measure of our resistance to the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline. We pull the line up out of the depths and say our resistance is many fathoms deep and our resistance is broad and our resistance will be sustained—and as the line comes up the wind may catch it and there is a reverberation; we are sounding off. We are expressing ourselves both forcefully and joyfully—because we are in this together and coming together as a community, and joining different communities together in this resistance makes us strong.
You will hear the sound of bells in the trees, the sound of glass clinking against glass above a circle of spring water, the sound of a joyful noise of rhythm instruments played by guests and children and the community. The music is our way of saying NO. We refuse this pipeline. We won’t have it, and we will keep saying NO because our resistance is imbued with and emanates from the landscapes in which we are rooted, and the strength of our common purpose.
You will hear the joyful noise, and the rhythm of protest reflected in the soundscapes and in the music of the poems and essays that constitute this work of land art.
The companies proposing an eminent domain land grab for private gain do not want us to raise up our voices. They think they can quell the rural people, the people of color, Native Americans, landowners and small businesses that will be devastated by their fracked-gas pipeline. So the music of “Soundings” is here to say that we refuse to stay silent in the face of this environmental outrage that threatens our children, our homes, our waterways, our wells and our woods.
Participatory Gamelan
What is the sound of people making the music of resistance, of refusal to have their voices suppressed, refusal to quell their songs of fortitude and love of the land, their celebration of place in song? The Participatory Gamelan is a rhythm instrument table and a communal gathering space with a variety of chimes, shakers, bells and instruments. Lacy rusted gas canisters found abandoned on the land; shakers filled with sacred Ponca corn (the Seeds of Resistance carried from the states where the Keystone XL pipeline is being fought); a cedar branch strung with jingles from local brewery and cidery bottle caps; liqueur glasses that belonged to a neighbor's grandmother: the instruments of the Gamelan remind us of the landscapes and people we hold dear and want to protect from pipeline explosions or erosion and sedimentation into pristine waterways.
This piece includes the poem “strange weather.”
Glass Harmonium
What is the sound made by the forest when the big machines come to tear down our mountain ridges and plow down ancient trees? What is the sound of our clear waterways clogged from blasting and digging and mountaintop removal?
The kinetic energy of the wind through the trees, near this spring-fed circle of water, is transformed into the song of the Glass Harmonium. The glass chimes of this piece are mainly quiet, unless the wind is strong; they express our dismay at the possible destruction, provide a meditative space in which to enjoy the natural sounds of the meadow and woods. The gently-turning mobile is reflected in the pool. The pool is alive with frogs. The winter wren and Flicker call nearby. Sit quietly for a moment and listen.
This piece includes the poems “Floaters,” and “knotted.”
Signal to Noise
What is that sound in the trees, like hundreds of little bells? Let us make music on behalf of the trees and support these beings who have purified our air, who communicate soundlessly through root networks, who give shelter and food to countless animals. Decorative orange ribbons attached to bells are strung through the woods, along the proposed path of the pipeline looking just like the plastic survey tape, but with bells on!
Resounding
“Soundings” is dedicated to the preservation of the land and to stopping the ravages of the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline, a fracked gas pipeline that is not needed to meet our state’s energy needs and that will not bring any economic benefit to the citizens along the proposed route but instead will have negative impacts on safety, on drinking water and waterways, on community health, on local economies and on the environment. The hills resound with the voice of the people saying “No Pipeline.”
©2017 Amelia L. Williams