“The Trial of Harmony and Invention smartly parallels fear of flying and the fear of history, that is, of curiosity about the meaning of what happens.” —Kenneth Baker, SF Gate, 2001
Projected images of planes, butterflies, and altimeters reflecting off of a rotating disco ball, multiply and swirl across the walls. On the floor a large, slowly spinning projection—crashing waves, a public monument, a swimming girl—counters the rapid pace of the dozens of tiny wall images. The audio score combines 24 different performances of the “Winter” Concerto of Vivaldi’s “The Trial of Harmony and Invention.” The performances are layered so that they all end on the same note, thus because each performance has a different running time, they begin at different points. The resulting composition is rich in harmony and rhythmic complexity.