Within the Above is based on love as a universal energy. By creating a sound-dependent environment, Leigh Kaulbach and Andy Kelleher Stuhl intend to transport a participatory audience into love. The artists were inspired by two red tailed hawks, spotted gliding above into a treetop perch on Putnam Ave in Cambridgeport, and awed by their beauty, partnership, and coexistence with the urban community. Kaulbach and Stuhl seek to invoke the pure spirit of love exhibited by the red tailed hawk pairing, at Gallery 263.

Experience

Entering the gallery, the viewer passes through layers of hanging vines. Inside this separated space, the group gathers around a 3-D mixed-media representation of the two red tailed hawks, and a sound performance develops.

Performance 1

A generative sound piece develops in the presence of the audience, transitioning from voiced expressions of love into a wash of textural and resonant sounds. Circled around the hawks, viewers see other audience members as part of the performance and conceive of themselves as witnesses to universal love, both in the visual plane and as part of the sound performance. The performance will last 25 minutes, with a potluck reception following. A microphone will stand in the corner of the room, encouraging visitors to speak “love language” into it to be incorporated into Performance 2.

Performance 2

A second sound performance will be staged, incorporating the newly recorded material from Performance 1. Afterwards, the artists and audience will write love letters, to be photocopied and issued together in zine format, to be anonymously distributed around town.

Installation Viewing

Visitors are invited to a more free-form experience of the installation environment. A version of the sound piece, incorporating the process and elements from the previous nights’ performances, will play on loop, alongside other documenting materials.