"Carry the Water", 2024

Duration: 19 minute infinite loop

55 gallon water barrel, powder-coated jerry cans, concrete, transducers and digital audio

The sound installation Carry the Water explores the relationship between industrial development and the restoration of natural environments, which often involves removing human influence and allowing nature to take its course. 

The installation is made up of a series of metal vessels, all of which could hold water but are in fact empty and only act as resonators for the amplified sound of water.  “Carry the Water” is a cycle which takes inspiration from sections of the T.S. Eliot's poem "The Wasteland”, starting only with the sound of droplets then slowly transition into white noise resembling the sound of running water returning to the landscape. Based around the historical practice of control and containment of water and the progress made in the recent dam removals, specifically on the Klamath River, the installation is a meditation on the idea that progress can be both destructive and restorative. It also explores how we perceive time and our relationship with nature.

Embrace Fearlessly the Burning World - Curated by Ashley Stull Meyers & Aurora Tang
Part III, “Progress” Marcus Fischer & Lisa Ward

Center for Art Research at the University of Oregon / Eugene, Oregon

May 2024