NEWSLETTER
Site-specific sound walks and installations by Gelsey Bell and Joseph White, Brian House and Ben Rubin, and Michael Gordon
Brooklyn, NY—This winter, Brooklyn Botanic Garden focuses its outdoor public programming on sound in the Garden, with site-specific original compositions and audio walks for visitors to experience at their own pace.
As part of the Art in the Garden series, BBG presents three works from January through May: Gelsey Bell and Joseph White’s Meander, Ben Rubin and Brian House’s Terminal Moraine, and a reprisal of Michael Gordon’s loved. Each work takes its inspiration from the Garden and the temporal sensations one experiences among its natural features, both ancient and fleeting.
Starting in January, naturalist Brad Klein returns to BBG with a new series of winter nature walks, now available as audio tours for socially distanced visits.
Note to media: For high-res images, further information, or to request an interview or visit, please contact the Garden’s press office at communications@bbg.org or 917-975-0204.
Gelsey Bell and Joseph White: Meander
Starts January 29
Listen on your personal device.
Meander is a site-specific sound walk created for BBG that guides listeners on a meditative stroll into the natural landscape. Created by Joseph White and HERE Arts Residency Program artist Gelsey Bell, the composers of Cairns (included on the New York Times “Best Theater of 2020” list), Meander encourages listeners to watch, listen, and reset their clocks to pastoral temporality, inviting them to sink into the complex patterns and fine details of the natural environment. Meander is copresented with HERE.
Starting January 29, this audio piece can be enjoyed at the Garden or at home. Learn more.
Ben Rubin and Brian House: Terminal Moraine
February 26–April 25
Elizabeth Scholtz Woodland Garden
In this sound installation created by Brian House and Ben Rubin for Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s walled garden, auditory representations of tree growth and glacial ice recession are simulated by algorithms: Cells expand and branch with an element of uncertainty while crystalline structures gradually break apart. The resulting sonic dialog expresses change on the border between the deep history of this place and whatever comes next. Learn more.
loved.
March 13–May 9
Cherry Esplanade
As a way of processing and reflecting on the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, Brooklyn Botanic Garden offers loved., a site-specific sound installation created by NYC-based composer Michael Gordon to honor those we have lost. Performed by percussionist David Cossin, the meditative composition for seven vibraphones plays hourly on Cherry Esplanade and runs 5 minutes, 28 seconds.
loved. was first presented at BBG in August 2020; it is being reprised to mark the one-year anniversary of New York City’s pandemic shutdown. Learn more.
Winter Nature Walks
Listen on your personal device.
Naturalist Brad Klein guides short audio walks through the Shelby White and Leon Levy Water Garden, Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden, and Osborne Garden. Listeners will hear descriptions of the habits and survival strategies of wildlife they may encounter in the winter months. The first recording, a walk through the Water Garden, is available now to enjoy in the Garden or at home. Listen now.
About Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Founded in 1910, Brooklyn Botanic Garden (BBG) is an urban botanic garden that connects people to the world of plants, fostering delight and curiosity while inspiring an appreciation and sense of stewardship of the environment. Situated on 52 acres in the heart of Brooklyn, the Garden is home to over 12,000 kinds of plants and hosts over 800,000 visitors annually.
Stay connected with @brooklynbotanic on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for plants in bloom, gardening how-tos, and more.
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