Deliquesence Score, 2026 Performance, June 18 in Convocation Hall, University of Saskatchewan.
A performance and live interpretation of Breath Score in G minor for woodwind quartet and mushroom ink.
Deliquescence is part of the reproductive process of some varieties of mushrooms where the fruiting body digests itself to improve the viability of spores. The process produces rich black liquid that can be used as ink. The mushrooms used in the performance were ethically foraged and align with my interest in land-based materials, environmentally sustainable methods and practices. The artist follows the breath score played by the musicians using an atomizer to distribute a fine mist of mushroom ink. Following the peformance, the scores are offered as a gift to the people in attendance.
Breath Score in G minor, 2023 HD video, colour, sound, 12 minutes
I created a video and sound installation comprised of a woodwind quintet playing in the Northern Saskatchewan wilderness. I filmed their individual performances and layered them to create a harmonic media installation.
The location of the performance has personal resonance. In 2020, I purchased a small parcel of land on the cusp of the boreal forest in the northern parkland region. It is located on Treaty 6 territory bordering the Prince Albert National Park, delineated by a meandering, slow-moving river. There is abundant animal life in the area: the Sturgeon River plains bison herd, deer, elk, black bears, coyotes, and the Amyot wolf pack. I’ve encountered fox, porcupines, skunks and squirrels and frost fringed boroughs where little creatures dwell.
The site is located at the bottom of a valley and sound reverberates great distances. I have heard an eerie chorus of wolf voices carried on the wind and elk bugling in the night. I have captured audio recordings of these animal voices which provide a reference point for the development of the musical performance. The melody is in tune with these more than human voices and I consider it a kind of human response to call of the land and animals.
I have developed a score around on a simple structure that alternates between played notes and rests based on the length of each performer’s breath. The musicians are directed to hold a note for one breath, rest for one breath, before playing again for one breath. They are directed to increase the rest period between notes by one breath increments, until it reaches 5 breaths, then the cycle reverses. I suppose it could be considered as much a breathing score and a musical one. The variation in the individual’s rate of breathing creates an organic composition where individual instruments fall into or out of synchronization. There is no musical progression as such, rather each player contributes a single note in a cord building a layered harmonic composition.
Project Credits Music Consultation: Stephanie Unverricht Sound and Consultation: Darren Miller DOP: Clark Ferguson Photo Documentation: Carey Shaw Woodwind Quintet: Bassoon: Stephanie Unverricht Clarinet: Celestino de Pedro Flute: Rowan Froh Horn: Samuel Dmyterko Oboe: Tyrell Hardlotte
Troy Gronsdahl & Darren Miller
Ways of Listening, Performance
October 20, 2018
AKA artist-run centre
Photo documentation by Carey Shaw
Ways of Listening was performed by Troy Gronsdahl and Darren Miller on October 20, 2018. During the performance, audience members were invited to explore the resonant properties my unfired clay vessels. The performance culminated with an interpolation of “Tijuana Taxi” written by Evran Coleman and recorded by Herb Alpert and The Tijuana Brass (1965).
Performance from the series, Six Poems About Love Whispered to the Night Sky. Images from top:
Le front aux vitres by Paul Eluard (1929) Recited on April 28, 2016 at the childhood home of American writer, Wallace Stegner in Eastend, Saskatchewan.
My Life Summed Up In Three Photographs (Thus Far) by Gregory Scofield (2005)Recited on October 2, 2016 near the Queen Elizabeth Power Plant, Saskatoon.
The Visit by Robert Creeley (1981)Recited on June 17, 2016 at the original summer cabin of English landscape painter and educator, Augustus Kenderdine at Emma Lake, Saskatchewan.
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