REMAINS

REMAINS is a multimedia installation made with charred wood, repurposed steel factory windows, fumed and altered glass, lead came, and a motion activated audio track powered by a mini solar panel. The sound track layers the song of the last living Kauai Oo bird, a now extinct species, a male calling for a mate who will never come with my interpretive reading of the poem LET THEM NOT SAY by Jane Hirshfield (Knopf, 2020) and the sound of fire. The entire track is 5 minutes; the section in this video is one complete reading of the poem. The text of the poem appears across the 32 panes of glass. REMAINS is installed on the grounds of Kaatsbaan, Tivoli NY.

LET THEM NOT SAY was read on Earth Day 2017 at the March for Science in Washington DC by Jane Hirshfield who also initiated the ongoing project Poets for Science. The recording of the Kauai Oo is found in the Macaulay Library of Ornithology at Cornell University. The artist is grateful to Jane and the Macaulay Library for granting kind permission to use these works.

Audio production: David Garland
Digital design and fabrication: Eli Campbell