Wardrobe Test: Caroline Shaw sings David Lang's 'when i am alone' live
PERFORMANCE BY CAROLINE SHAW
COMPOSED BY DAVID LANG
5:00P SUNDAY, NOV 3
On occasion of Suzanne Bocanegra: Wardrobe Test, the inaugural exhibition at Art Cake, Caroline Shaw will perform the solo version of when I am alone (2018) in the gallery on Sunday, NOV 3, at 5:00P. Composed by DAVID LANG and designed by Jody Elff, the sound score accompanies Bocanegra’s meditative and powerful installation: Dialogue of the Carmelites. Bocanegra’s Dialogue of the Carmelites is inspired by Francis Poulenc’s 1956 opera. Set during the final days of the Reign of Terror during the French Revolution, Poulenc’s opera is based on a true story of a convent of nuns who were executed for their relentless faith. In her work, the artist incorporates pages from the 1953 Guide to the Catholic Sisterhoods in the United States. Each page catalogs a directory’s worth of information about various convents within the United States. Working in the tradition of nuns who would hand stitch and decorate their prayer books, Bocanegra embroidered the individual pages and assembled them side-by-side on shelves lining the perimeter of the room. While Dialogue of the Carmelites honors the women presented, it also offers an exploration and critique of the culture.
ABOUT CAROLINE SHAW
Caroline Shaw is a New York-based musician—vocalist, violinist, composer, and producer—who performs in solo and collaborative projects. She was the youngest recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 2013 for Partita for 8 Voices, written for the Grammy-winning ROOMFUL OF TEETH, of which she is a member. Recent commissions include new works for Renée Fleming with Inon Barnatan, Dawn Upshaw with Sō Percussion and Gil Kalish, the Orchestra of St. Luke’s with John Lithgow, the Dover Quartet, TENET, The Crossing, the Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia, the Calidore Quartet, Brooklyn Rider, the Baltimore Symphony, and Roomful of Teeth with A Far Cry. The 2018-2019 season premiered with pianist Jonathan Biss with the Seattle Symphony, Anne Sofie von Otter with Philharmonia Baroque, the LA Philharmonic, and Juilliard 415. Shaw’s film scores include Erica Fae’s To Keep the Light and Josephine Decker’s Madeline’s Madeline as well as the upcoming short 8th Year of the Emergency by Maureen Towey. She has produced for Kanye West (The Life of Pablo; Ye) and Nas (NASIR), and has contributed to records by The National, and by Arcade Fire’s Richard Reed Parry. Shaw has studied at Rice University, Yale University, and Princeton University, and has taught at New York University. In 2018, she was a Creative Associate at The Juilliard School, New York. She has held residencies at Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, DC; Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, Alberta, Canada; Music on Main, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; and Vail Dance Festival, Colorado.
Photo by Kait Moreno