... is an hour-long performance piece combining animated paintings, spoken word, and electronic chamber music performed by the groups Trollstilt and So Percussion.

The animated paintings, by Judy Trueman, are framed by a whimsical creative filter where older works of art (pieces by Matisse, Agnes Martin, and others) are re-imagined as gardens, and then abstractly painted and animated.

Music by Dan Trueman is performed with a "garden of instruments," including amplified tubes (the eToobs, reaching 10 feet in length!), terracotta pots, buckets of water, toy pianos, and a big blue wheelbarrow. A laptop is used to process these instruments and "paint" unusual sonic textures on a set of hemispherical speakers distributed throughout the ensemble.

Poems by Jennifer Trueman, inspired by the writings and quotations of these same artists, emerge from the "garden" as well, performed by Trueman and Rinde Eckert.

Finally, in some performances, the gardens are explored by Tara, the performance weaver created by Tomie Hahn and Curtis Bahn.

Five (and-a-half) Gardens has been performed in various stages of development at Princeton University, the Whitney Museum, Cleveland State University, and the Institute for Advanced Study; further performances are in the works, including a performance at the Third-Practice Festival in Richmond, VA, on October 19. A CD/DVD is nearly complete and will be released by Shhh Productions in the Fall of 2007.

Development of Five (and-a-half) Gardens was supported by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, Princeton University's Council on Research in the Humanities and Social Sciences, and the Composer Assistance Program of the American Music Center.

Questions? contact Dan Trueman: dan[at]music[dot]princeton[dot]edu

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