In Performance: Gelsey Bell: [MORNING//MOURNING] at Prototype Festival (NYC)

Gelsey Bell: [MORNING//MOURNING]
HERE Mainstage
January 6, 9-22 at 7:30pm and January 7 at 5pm
Tickets

Gelsey Bell is a Brooklyn-based composer, writer, performer, and all-around musical superstar. Her work melds deeply informed research, sonic experimentation, and embodied storytelling. 

[MORNING//MOURNING] takes us on a journey across geological time scales, into the deep ocean and through the solar system. The piece tells the story of what happens over the course of millions of years after the disappearance of humans from earth. Through the use of vocal sound exploration and multiple instruments — electronic, acoustic, found objects, and a series of ceramic and glass bowls–we experience a playful imagination informed by scientific research of what the world might look, feel and sound like in hundreds of millions of years according to Bell.

The storytelling both inhabits and elicits a wide range of emotions that are reflected in the parallel bookended structure of the title of the show itself. Together with the performers we mourn the loss of humans and reflect upon the part we have played in the creation of this emaciated and toxin-riddled planet left in our wake. Yet we also experience the joy in the dawn of a new morning on not only this planet but others around the solar system. But the joy is marred by the realization that this kind of cross-galactical life could have been possible sooner if humans had chosen to lead different lives.

Through the soaring vocals, stunning instrumentals, gorgeous lighting, and scenic construction, we get a glimpse into both the playfully imaginative mind of Bell and the worlds that may exist in the future long after we are gone.

[MORNING//MOURNING] Gelsey Bell at Prototype Festival (NYC) Photo by Maria Baranova