Byron Au Yong and Randy Moss | Kidnapping Water: Bottled Operas
September 12 – November 21, 2008
“Kidnapping Water: Bottled Operas . . . exudes an exquisite darkness whose shifts, gradients, and strips of black bewitch the eye.” —The Stranger
Kidnapping Water: Bottled Operas is a sound and light installation that features footage and recordings of performances by classical and experimental opera singers and water percussionists in a ceremonial event that explores water and human migration. Created by composer Byron Au Yong, in collaboration with writers, media artists and musicians, the Bottled Operas were performed in rivers, lakes, fountains, sloughs, ravines, and other waterways as part of 4Culture’s Site-Specific. During Bumbershoot, Kidnapping Water musicians found themselves in the DuPen Fountain singing and splashing through these 64 Bottled Operas that have a curious relationship to the 64 hexagrams in the I Ching.
Sound: Byron Au Yong
Light: Randy Moss
Video: Jean-Stephane
Libretti: Eugenie Chan, Bret Fetzer, Aaron Jafferis, Archana Kumar, Carola Luther, Caroline Murphy, Vivian Umino, Edisa Weeks.
Creative Vocalists: Josie Davis, Emily Greenleaf, Jeremiah Oliver, David Stutz
Water Percussionists: Stuart McLeod, Dean Moore, Ben Morrow, James Whetzel
Audio engineers: Tom Stiles and CJ Lazenby
Artists
Byron Au Yong
Byron Au Yong composes songs of dislocation dedicated to intercultural collaboration and the places people call home. Works include Kidnapping Water: Bottled Operas (Bumbershoot Festival of the Arts), Occupy Orchestra…
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