Trading Places

Details

The Way Earthly Things Are Going II (Mother Earth’s Lament) is a sound and object installation that reflects on the entangled relationship between human progress and ecological collapse. Conceived for the 36th Bienal de São Paulo and inspired by its theme – “Not All Travellers Walk Roads” – the work focuses on deforestation as a symbol of environmental fragility and loss.

The installation merges a cappella choral compositions, data-driven sound structures, and sculptural tree-stump speakers to create an immersive space of mourning and reflection. Rooted in traditional folk laments reinterpreted for a contemporary women’s choir, the piece gives voice to Mother Earth’s suffering through layered harmonies that echo across time.

Each tree stump, transformed into a resonant body, becomes both relic and speaker, a vessel for songs of grief, reverence, and renewal. Mother Earth’s Lament invites audiences to listen deeply: to the Earth’s voice, to ancestral wisdom, and to the silence that follows destruction — a collective call for awareness and care in the face of ecological crisis.

Info

• Title : The Way Earthly Things Are Going II (Mother Earth’s Lament)

• Year : 2025

• Medium : Multi-Channel audio, Tree stump loudspeakers, Charcoal, Smoke, Scent.

• Duration : Variable.