NORTHERN SKY CIRCLE
2009
Snow, Speakers, Electronics
A site specific collaborative installation with molo design. Over a week long stay in Anchorage Alaska, the members of molo built a large outdoor snow space while Ethan composed a complementary four channel sound piece. Source material for the sound work consisted of gathered environmental sounds: the sounds of snow falling from tree limbs, the creaking noises of tidal ice flows, and the calling of winter birds.
Ethan also worked with frozen sound sources in a studio setting, recording icicles dripping onto a glockenspiel and interacting with pieces of snow and ice to capture the resulting textures. He allowed the materials and field recordings to guide and inform his compositional decisions, combining and digitally manipulating these sounds alongside effected autoharp, percussion and harmonica to create a piece that reflected and responded to the wintery Alaskan landscape. The speakers were mounted during the opening and played into the evening amidst strangers who gathered near a fire in the shelter of the work.
Exhibited at the FREEZE PROJECT and commissioned by the Alaska Design Forum in association with the International Gallery of Contemporary Art and the Anchorage Museum. This project was supported in part by Oregon Arts Commission.