WESTERN FRONT – Tremor

Description:

Tremor was a performance by Samita Sinha produced while in residence at Western Front. The materiality of the work comes from Sinha’s practice of decomposing, distilling, and transforming Indian vocal traditions through the body to emerge elemental sonic material—and a kind of language—that contains potentials to reconfigure the ground of being and relation, challenge what knowledge is, and open new forms of embodiment and collaboration. In Tremor, she voices in relationship to a live sonic environment conjured by composer Ash Fure, within a space designed by architect Sunil Bald, and is joined by performer Okwui Okpokwasili. Committed to the emergent, Tremor is the practice and performance of attuning to the raw material of vibration and unfolding possibilities that arise through encounter—with other beings, and with the material of sound itself.

Fure, Okpokwasili, and Sinha performed in the round while seated on the floor of the Grand Luxe Hall. Lighting design by James Proudfoot basked the space in modulating warm and cool tones that were diffused by a thin layer of haze. The forty-five-minute work opened with a solo vocalization by Sinha paired with ektara (one-stringed drone lute). As the improvisation unfolded, Okpokwasili responded to Sinha's intonation, leading to layers of sonic textures that built in volume and intensity as the performance progressed. Microphones attached to Sinha and Okpokwasili allowed Fure to mix and spatialize a combination of their acoustic and amplified vocals with pre-recorded audio across Western Front’s octophonic (8-channel) sound system.

Following the performance at Western Front, an iteration of Tremor was toured to Danspace Project, New York City and was presented with a spatial design by architect Sunil Bald.

Presented with the support of the Government of Canada and the SOCAN Foundation, and with special thanks to Darrell Jones for his support as a thought partner to Sinha across the development of Tremor.

Video documentation is available upon request.

Artists Samita Sinha and Okwui Okpokwasili stand in the bright white light entering a dark room from two windows, each centred within their own window frame and only visible as shadows blocking the incoming light. Sinha stands beneath the middle window with her back towards it, arms tight to her side. Okpokwasili stands beneath the window to Sinhas left, opening the shutters with both hands and looking out into the light.

Samita Sinha stands beneath bright white light entering a dark room from a tall window frame only shadowed by the outline of her body and the ektara raised in her hands. A quilted cushion and rectangular orange lights rest on the carpeted floor beneath her feet. The subsurface scattering of light highlights the tip of her thumb and apex of her ear.

Samita Sinha sits atop a cushion on the floor with one knee raised. She raises the base of the ektara up to her downward gazing face, resting the arm holding the instrument on her raised knee. The edges of her hair, fingers, neck, and collarbone are all defined by the glow of a warm spotlight and a rectangular orange light on the floor behind her.

Samita Sinha holds an ektara close to her chest with one hand. Her other hand rests in the air with its palm facing upwards. Warm overhead lighting and hints of orange separate her body from the dull purple hued background as her head turns towards the instrument.

Samita Sinha and Ash Fure are framed by the bodies of audience members seated alongside them on the floor of the Grand Luxe Hall. Sinha holds an ektara beneath the warm glow of orange light while Fure is enveloped in a purple haze, lightened partially from the blue light to their side. Fure has both hands on a control board.

Samita Sinha tucks an ektara near her neck and downwards turned face. One of her hands holds a bamboo arm of the instruments while the other hand hovers to the instruments side, with fingers widely spread. Saturated orange-red lights the space, turning all shadows into a near black.

Samita Sinha scrunches her eyes closed while vocalizing. She grips an ektara with a tight fist, leaving her other hand gently suspended in air. Saturated orange-red lights the space, turning all shadows into a near black.

Samita Sinha relaxedly faces upwards with her eyes closed. She holds an ektara in an arm tucked tightly to her side, forearm adorned by a single mental bracelet. Saturated orange-red light emanates from below, filling the space with a warm hue and dark shadows.

Okwui Okpokwasili furrows her brows while vocalizing in a dark room with round white lights lying on the ground. Her tense expression is contrasted by her hand gently resting in the air with its palm facing downward. An orange light warms the top of her head, shoulder, and fingertips while a blue light emanates from behind, cooling the hue of the background and leaving a bright highlight on her back.

Okwui Okpokwasili is in soft focus with her eyes closed and lips loosely pursed. Her elbows are tucked to her side while her hands are extended outwards into clear focus, one with its palm facing upwards and the other facing downwards. A bright white light shines down onto her from above while saturated blue lights both her underside and the background.

Okwui Okpokwasili and Samita Sinha are independently spotlit while seated in front of one another in the Grand Luxe Hall. Okpokwasili turns her head sharply to the left while tensing her face as if yelling. Sinha drops her head low while raising the bunched fingers of one of her hands. Blue and purple rectangular lights scatter the floor, diffusing their pigment throughout the space.

Samita Sinha, Okwui Okpokwasili, and Ash Fure sit in a triangular formation under warm spotlights among a seated crowd in the darkened Grand Luxe Hall. Brilliant blue and white lights positioned near them on the floor illuminate the space with a soft, cool glow.

Ash Fure sits barefoot atop cushions in a crouched position behind three elevated sound mixers, adjusting dials from the centre board with both hands while gazing outwards. Soft purple light illuminates half her body and the underside of an empty chair in the background. The rest of the space falls into a cool indigo shadow.

Okwui Okpokwasili sits cross-legged under a warm spotlight with a blue light emanating from behind her back. Her head faces downwards at her arms outstretched in front of her, gesturing as if pouring something from one hand into another. Her arms are foregrounded by her halter strap dress made of thin black linen.

Samita Sinha rests her eyes closed with her hands gesturing in a pinching motion near her chest. She is spotlit by warm lighting while a shadow is cast across her face, leaving only the edge of her face and tip of her ear highlighted in orange. An oblong blue light is in soft focus above her head.

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2022

Samita Sinha in Residence

Captions:

Samita Sinha and Okwui Okpokwasili performing Tremor (2023), photo documentation, Jul 21, 2023. Photo by Rachel Topham Photography.
Samita Sinha performing Tremor (2023), photo documentation, Jul 21, 2023. Photo by Rachel Topham Photography.
Samita Sinha performing Tremor (2023), photo documentation, Jul 21, 2023. Photo by Rachel Topham Photography.
Samita Sinha performing Tremor (2023), photo documentation, Jul 21, 2023. Photo by Rachel Topham Photography.
Samita Sinha and Ash Fure performing Tremor (2023), photo documentation, Jul 21, 2023. Photo by Rachel Topham Photography.
Samita Sinha performing Tremor (2023), photo documentation, Jul 21, 2023. Photo by Rachel Topham Photography.
Samita Sinha performing Tremor (2023), photo documentation, Jul 21, 2023. Photo by Rachel Topham Photography.
Samita Sinha performing Tremor (2023), photo documentation, Jul 21, 2023. Photo by Rachel Topham Photography.
Okwui Okpokwasili performing Tremor (2023), photo documentation, Jul 21, 2023. Photo by Rachel Topham Photography.
Okwui Okpokwasili performing Tremor (2023), photo documentation, Jul 21, 2023. Photo by Rachel Topham Photography.
Samita Sinha and Okwui Okpokwasili performing Tremor (2023), photo documentation, Jul 21, 2023. Photo by Rachel Topham Photography.
Samita Sinha, Ash Fure, and Okwui Okpokwasili performing Tremor (2023), photo documentation, Jul 21, 2023. Photo by Rachel Topham Photography.
Ash Fure performing Tremor (2023), photo documentation, Jul 21, 2023. Photo by Rachel Topham Photography.
Okwui Okpokwasili performing Tremor (2023), photo documentation, Jul 21, 2023. Photo by Rachel Topham Photography.
Samita Sinha performing Tremor (2023), photo documentation, Jul 21, 2023. Photo by Rachel Topham Photography.

Western Front is a non-profit artist-run centre in Vancouver.

We acknowledge the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ílwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations as traditional owners of the land upon which Western Front stands.