Emily Doolittle: Body of Wood (2009)

Body of Wood was written in collaboration with poet Rae Crossman and visual artist Reinhard Reitzenstein, two artists whose work I have known and admired for a long time.  Using footage of trees from the RARE forest in Cambridge, Ontario (known as “Canada’s largest urban green space”), Reitzenstein’s video explores the textures, lines and colours of the bark of the species of trees unique to this geographical zone.  My composition reflects these textures and patterns in sound, while Crossman’s words give verbal articulation to the patterns that I am exploring musically and Reitzenstein is exploring visually.  Body of Wood was commissioned by the Canada Council for the Arts, and first performed at the Open Ears Festival in Kitchener-Waterloo in 2009.