Exhibition Guide
Courtesy of the artist and The Modern Institute / Toby Webster Ltd, Glasgow
from the forest to the concrete (to the forest)
Art Object Info
Sound Summary:
[Greenery rustles over a strong wind.]
[Narrator speaks, quoting “Parable of the Sower” by Octavia Butler] “People have changed the climate of the world. Now they’re waiting for the old days to come back.”
[A finger snap rings and is cut off abruptly.[♪ “Journey in Satchidananda” by Alice Coltrane plays. ♪]
[The sound of rain slowly fades into the mix, replacing the song.]
[A solid structure collapses with loud booms as it is hit by heavy machinery.]
[Wood cracks, rain continues.]
[Wind blows and is abruptly cut off.]
[The rain slowly fades, leaving silence.]
[A person speaks] This is the water rushing in on Main Street. [Unintelligle]. It ain’t nothin’ happen yet. So, imagine when it do happen. Oh, look all the area. We so need a boat to get around. There we go again. I’m in trouble again. House underwater. [Someone speaks nearby.] Need to break that down, build something else. Addie Burdoch(?)’s shop.
[Unintelligible] Leon house. Stafford(?) house. Living true(?). Ah, man, this is gonna be bad. Just imagine when it do come through. What’s gonna happen? Whew.
[The gentle lapping of running water fades in.]
[Narrator continues quoting Octavia Butler’s “Parable of the Sower”] “Change is ongoing. Everything changes in some way… Every living thing, every bit of matter, all the energy in the universe changes in some way.”
[Drops of water ring out over a deep, cavernous echo.]
[A person speaks] Blackness has been the constant affirmation of humanity, and in that regard, Blackness has too much to teach the world.
[♪ “Journey in Satchidananda” by Alice Coltrane continues. ♪]
[A person exhales]
[A person speaks] Everyday, I tell myself to grow softer, to find a flow between the world I know and the world I want to be in, with you. Seizing hope, I know together we are building new ways of being outside of the chasm that does not want to recognize Blackness as love and as human. But we are here together, changing, mutating, limbo-ing, twisting, turning in the weather, the wake and the aftermath of slavery, of imperialism, of everyday anti-Blackness, we endure, we are the future!
[♪ “Journey in Satchidananda” by Alice Coltrane continues. ♪♪]
[Person inhales, exhales, clears their throat, and continues speaking] But we are here together, changing, mutating, limbo-ing, twisting, turning in the weather, the wake and the aftermath of slavery, of imperialism, of everyday anti-Blackness, we endure, we are the future!
[A microphone rustles as it is moved.]
[Wood cracks under the sounds of heavy machinery.]
[Heavy machinery slams over a cavernous wind.]
from the forest to the concrete (to the forest)
Sound Summary:
[Greenery rustles over a strong wind.]
[Narrator speaks, quoting “Parable of the Sower” by Octavia Butler] “People have changed the climate of the world. Now they’re waiting for the old days to come back.”
[A finger snap rings and is cut off abruptly.[♪ “Journey in Satchidananda” by Alice Coltrane plays. ♪]
[The sound of rain slowly fades into the mix, replacing the song.]
[A solid structure collapses with loud booms as it is hit by heavy machinery.]
[Wood cracks, rain continues.]
[Wind blows and is abruptly cut off.]
[The rain slowly fades, leaving silence.]
[A person speaks] This is the water rushing in on Main Street. [Unintelligle]. It ain’t nothin’ happen yet. So, imagine when it do happen. Oh, look all the area. We so need a boat to get around. There we go again. I’m in trouble again. House underwater. [Someone speaks nearby.] Need to break that down, build something else. Addie Burdoch(?)’s shop.
[Unintelligible] Leon house. Stafford(?) house. Living true(?). Ah, man, this is gonna be bad. Just imagine when it do come through. What’s gonna happen? Whew.
[The gentle lapping of running water fades in.]
[Narrator continues quoting Octavia Butler’s “Parable of the Sower”] “Change is ongoing. Everything changes in some way… Every living thing, every bit of matter, all the energy in the universe changes in some way.”
[Drops of water ring out over a deep, cavernous echo.]
[A person speaks] Blackness has been the constant affirmation of humanity, and in that regard, Blackness has too much to teach the world.
[♪ “Journey in Satchidananda” by Alice Coltrane continues. ♪]
[A person exhales]
[A person speaks] Everyday, I tell myself to grow softer, to find a flow between the world I know and the world I want to be in, with you. Seizing hope, I know together we are building new ways of being outside of the chasm that does not want to recognize Blackness as love and as human. But we are here together, changing, mutating, limbo-ing, twisting, turning in the weather, the wake and the aftermath of slavery, of imperialism, of everyday anti-Blackness, we endure, we are the future!
[♪ “Journey in Satchidananda” by Alice Coltrane continues. ♪♪]
[Person inhales, exhales, clears their throat, and continues speaking] But we are here together, changing, mutating, limbo-ing, twisting, turning in the weather, the wake and the aftermath of slavery, of imperialism, of everyday anti-Blackness, we endure, we are the future!
[A microphone rustles as it is moved.]
[Wood cracks under the sounds of heavy machinery.]
[Heavy machinery slams over a cavernous wind.]