Emily Francisco's The Trans-Harmonium: A Listening Station, 2011-12, Interactive Sculptural Music Device, Dimensions Vary (roughly 70" x 36" x 36"). Image courtesy of the Artist.
You've heard of landscapes and cityscapes, but how about soundscapes? DC-based artist Emily Francisco creates these immersive audio environments and she'll talk about her recent work when she kicks off the Luce Foundation Center's fall Artist Talks series this Sunday, September 14 at 1:30 p.m. Francisco's pieces are especially interesting because, while they involve destruction, they're not in and of themselves destructive. Rather, Francisco takes everyday objects—like pianos, nutcrackers, and radios, and constructs entirely new pieces and experiences from them. The Trans-harmonium: A Listening Station is a keyboard that's wired to dozens of radiosbut doesn't play musical notes. Instead, it broadcasts from a different radio station each time a key is pushed.
Francisco earned her MFA from American University last year and just concluded her appointment as Artist in Residence at Artistphere in Rosslyn, Virginia, this April. Her latest show, Something Slightly Familiar, will run at CulturalDC's Flashpoint Gallery from September 12 through October 11, 2014.
In American Art's Luce Artists Talks series, local artists discuss a work on view in the museum and why it resonates with them. Talks begin at 1:30 p.m. Presented in collaboration with CulturalDC.
