For more than 15 years, Rosa Barba has probed the boundaries between cinema, the body, and the human voice through immersive performances merging film, installation, music, and text. Conceived by Barba as an “exploded poem,” The Ocean of One’s Pause continues the artist’s use of audio as a means for image-making and a material for shaping space. “A film is a performer,” declares Barba. “By manipulating the aspects of the projector’s function, I try to introduce the relationship between the projected image and the mechanics of projection, setting up a series of stages…charged with electricity.”
In each performance of The Ocean of One’s Pause, the sonic frequencies of percussionist Chad Taylor, vocalist Alicia Hall Moran, and Barba herself will activate a symphony of images throughout the installation Rosa Barba: The Ocean of One’s Pause. Rather than playing an accompanying role to the moving image, in this work, Barba has sound take center stage, prompting a live collaboration between light, voice, rhythm, and film that emphasizes the interdependency of each.
Capacity for all performances is limited and advance registration is required.
Note: tickets to the matinee performances on May 15, 17, and 18, and June 26, 28, and 29 include general Museum admission.
To accommodate the performances, the exhibition Rosa Barba: The Ocean of One’s Pause will be closed all day on May 15, 17, and 18, and June 26, 28, and 29.
Music arranged and performed by Rosa Barba (cello), Alicia Hall Moran (vocals), and Chad Taylor (percussion). Audio engineering by Sascha von Oertzen
Organized by Stuart Comer, The Lonti Ebers Chief Curator of Media and Performance, with Gee Wesley, Curatorial Associate, Department of Media and Performance. Performances produced by Kate Scherer, Senior Manager and Producer, with Jessie Gold, Assistant Performance Coordinator, Performance and Live Programs.