In the winter of 2012, I and my Frozen Music colleague Rene Barge were invited to create a couple of sound pieces to accompany Robert Thiele’s monolithic concrete sculptures in a space inside Bridge Red Studios. We began with a series of experiments in one of the rooms organized with a 4-channel sound system, and a few months later we added a two-channel two a second sculpture room.
To document the residency, Robert, Rene and I thought about creating a catalog or book with a CD. I invited Luis Olazabal to take some images, and in response to this, it was important to include some text. I immediately thought of Robert Gregory, the imaginative poet I had collaborated with many times in the 90s.
The project continues, but with a bittersweetness that is difficult to ignore.
Like cicadas, my friend the supernatural Robert Gregory, was in the habit of disappearing and reappearing in cycles of 13 to 17 years. I found him this time through a common friend, Michael Hettich, and I could sense Bob was excited for the chance to work together again. He wrote a couple of poems in response to the images by Luis Olazabal and may a recording of one of them.
Both Robert Gregory and Luis Olazabal have unfortunately passed away. It is with a heavy heart that I now accept this project will be carried on without them. I will miss them both, but I am certain their spirit will live on in this work.
Brook Dorsch, co-owner of Emerson-Dorsch Gallery, is still on board and has made a commitment to publish a limited edition artist book/object encapsulating the multidimensional elements of this project, now spanning several years. We look forward to sharing the final product with you.
I always appreciated that in his poems Bob Gregory always made reference to some kind of unusual sound event. So I asked him to write a small piece inspired by the images of the sculptures by ( the other Bob ) Bob Thiele, taken by Luis, and see where that would take us.
Here’s the one poem he wrote he was most sure about, spoken in his own sweet voice:
In a Time as Sweet as Now ( 2014 ) by Robert Gregory | Subtropics Editions.