"We Might Appear As Forest Fires"
May 2023 with Berggruen Institute
"To a forest," Mannon said, "we might appear as forest fires. Hurricanes. Dangers. What moves quickly is dangerous, to a plant. The rootless would be alien, terrible.” — “Vaster than Empires,” Ursula K. Le Guin, 1971
“We Might Appear as Forest Fires” is an ecstatic performance that combines opera, electronic sound, and dance that took place at the Beverly Estate in Los Angeles, California. The dancers used the environment—the pool, the forest, and even the audience—to invigorate and inform their movements under a violet twilight and tangled, lush canopy.
“We Might Appear as Forest Fires” was the culmination of the project Vaster than Empires, a science and speculative fiction Writer’s Workshop, that explored the concept of collective intelligence. The performers embodied this theme.
Curator: Alice Scope
Director: George R. Miller
Composer, Vocalist, Performer: Sharon Chohi Kim
Composer, Performer: ARSWAIN (Freddy Avis)
Dancer-Choreographer: Layne Paradis Willis
Dancer: Mike Tyus
Costume Designer: Julio Cesar Delgato
Photos by Josh S Rose