Artist photo
Firat Erdim & Paula Matthusen-KITE CHOIR
On July 31 from 11am-2pm, artist Firat Erdim and composer Paula Matthusen will perform Kite Choir, an ensemble of custom-made kites and sound instruments that build upon traditions of singing kites from China, Japan, Vietnam, and Bermuda. This event is free; donations are welcome and appreciated. Donations support future artists' projects.
About the Artists
Whether with chisel, cast shadow, sprayed ink, or the tow line of a kite, Fırat Erdim’s practice investigates the intersections of projection, place, and materiality to question how we imagine and construct our environment. His work has been exhibited at the Spartanburg Art Museum (SC), Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts (Copenhagen, Denmark), Olson Larsen and Yellow Door galleries in Iowa, Elmhurst Art Museum (IL), Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts (MI), The Windor (Madrid, Spain), and Maquis Projects (İzmir, Turkey), among others. This work has been supported by residencies at Heima (Seyðisfjörður, Iceland), I-Park (CT), Babayan Culture House (Cappadocia, Turkey), Vermont Studio Center, and the Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest (KY). Awards include a 2016 Santo Foundation Award for Individual Artists, and the 2014 Founders Rome Prize in Architecture from the American Academy in Rome. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Architecture at Iowa State University.
Paula Matthusen is a composer who writes both electroacoustic and acoustic music and realizes sound installations. Her work often considers discrepancies in musical space—real, imagined, and remembered. Her music has been performed by Dither, Mantra Percussion, the Bang On A Can All-Stars, TIGUE, Brooklyn Rider, Loadbang, the Grossman Ensemble, among others. Her work has been performed at numerous venues and festivals in America and Europe, including the Tanglewood Festival of Contemporary Music, the MusicNOW Series of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and the Aspen Music Festival. Matthusen is currently Professor of Music at Wesleyan University, where she teaches experimental music, composition, and music technology.