About the Project
In 2009, Artist-in-Residence Ana Prvacki spent hours looking, wandering, and playing her flute in the museum galleries. These encounters enticed her to further develop a sound work she had devised for the Castello di Rivoli in Torino, Italy. “The Gardner Museum is a very special place. We might think that it operates as an enormous instrument that can be played in many ways, or as a stage, a succession of galleries forming a lyrical set,” says Prvacki.
Prvacki invited Neil Leonard, a professor at Berklee College of Music, and four students to come twice a month and perform their scales, tonal exercises, and trills while the museum was closed to the public. This experiment fully utilized the Gardner’s physical and spatial characteristics as a tool to create a new aural experience of the museum. The group, Katie Bilinski (base guitar), Julia Easterlin (voice), Neil Leonard (sax), Christian Li (Piano), and Rose Seyfried (voice), were asked to keep a journal of their experiences. Their entries were combined in a booklet and distributed at two public practice sessions that concluded the three-month project.
Because of the impact on those who witnessed and participated in Prvacki’s Performing Daily Practice, it was decided to continue the experiment for another year. Between September 2011 and February 2012, Leonard returned with five new students, Alexander Baboian (guitar), Lillia Betz (melodica), Jamie Billings (flute), Kerry Leva (voice), and Shea Rose (voice), to roam and explore the visual and acoustic environment of the galleries. After each session, they recorded their thoughts and uploaded images and recordings to this blog which launched to the public in March on the Gardner Museum’s website. On March 8 and 9, 2012, the group will hold two public practice sessions. Visitors are invited to come and explore the galleries as well as the different sounds echoing throughout the museum.
