He Who Saw the Deep: Five Studies for the Floods Project
2024, Two-screen scenography
The April 2024 45th Parallel concert explored geologic themes through music and immersive two-screen projections that surrounded the performers. The first half was a live performance of Lost in Deep Time and the second half previewed five studies about the Ice Age Floods, He Who Saw the Deep. These five works explore the enigmatic landscapes that inspired J Harlen Bretz’s cataclysmic flood theory set to a musical program performed by Pyxis Quartet. From the Channeled Scablands to the Columbia River Gorge, the floodscapes were captured with photogrammetry and rendered through VR technology developed by Thomas Wester, Ben Purdy and Holly Newlands.
WORKS
Anna Thorvaldsdottir: Sola: Prologue I. —
György Ligeti: Sonata for Solo Cello, I. Dialogo
inti figgis-vizueta: The Motion Between Three Worlds
Anna Meredith: Chorale and Haze
PERFORMERS
Ron Blessinger, violin
Greg Ewer, violin
Charles Noble, viola
Marilyn de Oliviera, cello
“The connections between what we were hearing and what we were seeing were often tenuous. But I think it ultimately works. The juxtaposition allows the viewer to sit in the middle, trying to make sense of how these two disparate things relate. It provides more space for contemplation than something more concrete and one-to-one would’ve allowed. But don’t let this fool you: The visuals were tightly choreographed to change at specific points in the music, per Brad Johnson’s synchronization.”
—Charles Rose, “45th Parallel Universe: Lost in Deep Time,” Oregon Arts Watch, May 15, 2024
Stills from Sola: Prologue I. —, Anna Thorvaldsdottir: Potholes Coulee and the cataract complex at Dry Falls, Central Washington.
Stills from Sonata for Solo Cello, I. Dialogo, György Ligeti: Cataract complex at Dry Falls and Deep Lake, Central Washington.
Stills from The Motion Between Three Worlds, inti figgis-vizueta: a kolk near Deep Lake, Central Washington.
Stills from Corale, Anna Meredith: Palouse Falls, Channeled Scablands, John Day River, Willamette Meteorite, Rowena Crest, Drumheller Channels, Hat Rock, Twin Sisters Rock, and Burlingame Canyon.
Stills from Haze, Anna Meredith: Ice Age Floodscapes landforms along the Columbia River, from Wallula Gap to Cape Horn.
