sending messages — for percussion quartet (2023)
Co-commissioned by The Noguchi Museum and Sō Percussion.
sending messages draws inspiration from the ceramic work of Toshiko Takaezu. Born in Pepe‘eko, Hawai‘i to Okinawan parents, Takaezu drew inspiration from the colors and textures around her. Her mastery of glazes turned her clay forms into gorgeous 360-degree landscapes.
When asked, “What makes your work relevant to the world today?” Takaezu answered, “The unknown element that comes from my work without my knowing it, the unknown intangible things that happe[n], and that make me want to see if I can do [them] over again to see if I can pursue it and get the perfect piece. It’s the unknown, the intangibles . . . the sound.”
Paul J. Smith, longtime director of the Museum of Contemporary Crafts, explains: “The artist wraps a small piece of clay in paper and drops it into the shape before closing it. This practice—which she refers to as ‘sending messages’—has become a ritual for the artist and an essential part of making the closed forms. After firing, the paper burns away from the small clay addition, which then is loose within the form.”
This piece responds to Takaezu’s interest in the unknown, intangible, sound elements of her work.
As a Flexible Commission,* the work exists in two forms: as the first half of the sky in our hands, our hands in the sky, a largescale installation work I created using recordings of Takaezu’s closed forms in honor of an upcoming retrospective exhibition of the artist Toshiko Takaezu, and as this percussion quartet.
duration 21 minutes
*The Flexible Commissions program is Sō Percussion’s in-house commissioning initiative where the group works with a broad array of artists to create new works.
This work was developed in part during residencies at the Tusen Takk Foundation, the Macgeorge Bequest, and Casa Wabi. Special thanks to the Toshiko Takaezu Foundation, Dakin Hart, Don Fletcher, Peter Russo, Kate Weiner, and the Honolulu Museum of Art for providing the opportunity and time for onsite recording of Takaezu’s original closed forms, and to the Family of Toshiko Takaezu for their generosity in letting me work with her pieces in this way.
Upcoming Performances
Saturday, February 3, 2024 — Sō Percussion, world premiere, Princeton University, NJ