T R A N S D I G I T A L _ S E N S O R S

In 2017, I was introduced to Daniel (Sedra D’mente) as a co-artist in residence at El Museo Latino in South Omaha. We had great chemistry working together in the museum studio. We discussed arts and music; in particular, how cultures of our Latin roots influence artwork that we make today. He later introduced me to his close friend, a sound artist performer, Sener. Before long we agreed to do some type of collaboration project featuring sound sculptures. The idea was kicked around for a while, but the COVID-19 pandemic put a pause on our planning. Fast forward to the Summer of 2021. We began meeting during Benson First Friday art crawls in the Artist Markets. It was a perfect opportunity to catch up outdoors and celebrate by listening and seeing the arts scene. In the fall I applied for a MaMO residency as the lead for a collaborative project that we had started to plan. Once we were granted the residency, we brainstormed and created a visual, sonic, and aromatic stage to perform.

Conceptually, I arranged our project around a thematic narrative; visually as our stage, sound to translate our vision. Our emphasis was to handicraft tradition ancestral artifacts with futuristic ones. The acoustic works are traditional bison rawhide drums (collaborated with Sedra D’) and aluminum mushroom bells, made in my sculpture studio. Sedra D’ made organic sound sculptures co-worked with Sener, converted into synthesizers. The two sculptures house modular circuitry of photo-activated sensors that when plugged into an amplifier, produce a wide range of tones by flashlight. Soon, we made few sounds before writing a guiding script prior to rehearsal. Our stage was lit and ritualistically prepared for the audience inside the MaMO. We performed T R A N S D I G I T A L _ S E N S O R S as if we were a conduit channeling the past with a possible future with soundscapes titled, Conflict, Reconciliation, and Interdependence. Our project was personal. It was a cathartic stream of consciousness with two spoken poems, a rap performed by Sedra D’ in his native Natuatl tongue, progressive guitar by Sener and improvisation.