haptic: three essays on Brutality

Instrumentation: violin, violin, viola, cello

Duration: ~11 minutes

haptic: three essays on Brutality was written in response to the killing of George Floyd and depicts America’s historic and current police violence crisis through collaboration with poet (and general genius icon!) Lua Powers. haptic also deals with subthemes of communication, specifically the use of touch and force and their implications on the feelings of love, comfort, and safety. Police brutality and mass incarceration have long upheld systemic racism: they must be addressed immediately.

About Flinching: The written poem was inspired by Boy Breaking Glass by Gwendolyn Brooks. I enjoyed how much of a visual I could get out of reading it so hopefully that is what people can get out of Flinching too. I like the use of repetition happening throughout the score because I like using repetition when I make visual art as well. Ari and I wanted to center the piece around the sense of touch, because in this day and age it’s something people both miss and fear on really intense levels. I fear both me and people I love getting touched and getting hurt, either by sickness or mistreatment by authorities trying to uphold white supremacy whether they are aware of it or not. I also started thinking about generational trauma, something that is constantly being felt and exploited but not often talked about.