Nafasi Yako Ni Ya Kijani

Nafasi Yako Ni Ya Kijani (Your Place is Green) 2017

This work is a memorial. It is an installation inspired by reflection and introspection. It is an invitation to engage with loss and memory, sound, light, and time.

Nafasi... is about listening. It’s visually sparse to center the act of listening as you take in the scope of the lawn and surrounding trees. As you sit in the chair, sounds slowly begin to emerge from different directions in the environment. Some merge with all the ambient sound that exists, wind, voices, birdsong; other sounds are sharply audible and crystalline.

An initial rendering made to visualize the work.

Nafasi... consists of a handmade white oak rocking chair on a low circular deck on the great lawn at Villa Montalvo in Saratoga, California. The empty chair is a symbol of absence when the work is unoccupied. One reason for choosing a rocking chair is that it can’t be rushed. It has a particular cadence and rhythm.

When in use the rocker sends very brief radio signals to the trees via a piezoelectric switch in the base. Hidden in the trees surrounding the chair are sound vessels made from old conga drums. These speakers emit carefully composed and curated sounds contributing to the existing soundscape.

This work was commissioned by Montalvo Arts Center for the exhibition Now Hear This! The show features five newly commissioned site-specific works of sound-based art by distinguished national and local artists Taraneh Hemami, Walter Kitundu, Hugh Livingston, Shane A. Myrbeck & Emily Shisko, and Stephen Vitiello. Drawing inspiration from Montalvo’s natural and built environments, participating artists present immersive soundscapes and interactive sound sculptures that invited visitors to experience Montalvo’s grounds in new ways and listen more attentively to the world and one another.

Now Hear This! is presented as part of the Lucas Artists Program’s Art on the Grounds initiative at Montalvo Arts Center. Art on the Grounds is a commissioning and exhibition program providing artists with opportunities to develop and present works of art in the context of a 175-acre public park.

A Sound Installation Takes Form

Take a photographic journey through the making of this artwork. From the chair to the deck to the sound vessels and the final installation, it's all documented below.

The rocking chair...

Preparing to build the chair prototype at Iramba Studio.

I prefer to sketch on the worktable when I can

Using a folding chair to test "rockability"

the form starting to emerge

the lower rear support lends a distinctive profile

an early idea for the back rest

prototyping arms

the earliest "sittable" prototype

I decided to add arms that extended the curves of the chair

they only looked good from this vantage point...

from the side the chair took on strange proportions. Later versions faired better.

beginning to prototype the ratchet/switch mechanism

an early iteration of a wooden ratchet

eventually I settled on using a ratcheting wrench for durability

a close up of one iteration

the mechanism attaches to the underside of the rocker seat

inside two offset cams slowly click a battery-less switch on and off

preparing white oak slats for lamination

trying my hand at bent lamination for the rockers

glue squeeze out is a good thing

gluing up the second rocker

glue, pressure, and time...

meanwhile, working on the seat and front legs of the rocker

planning ahead by leaving the pieces big

the final form begins to appear

working with white oak feels like working with stone

temporarily perched on the bent-lam rockers

shaping the lower back rest

the back has to be the trickiest part of chair building

on its feet so to speak, rear support is next

long days in the shop

a revelation about the mechanism leads to a change

the mechanism now housed in its casing

the chair in its final form

proud of the lines and balance

from overhead

a coat of epoxy sealer to keep out the elements

improvising a rolling lever arm to activate the mechanism

building a crate is one thing, moving it is another challenge

waiting for help to get the crate off the truck

the chair fits!

securing the rocker with a strap meant for restraining a baby to a changing table

filling in the empty space with blankets and an empty cardboard box

The sound vessels...

internal components of the sound vessels

with the initial chair prototype complete it was time to work on the sound vessels

this is an awkward shape to take to the table saw

a jig made from scrap wood and hot glue does the trick

the drums cut and waiting to be routed

the router set up to create a rabbet for plywood discs

rabbets cut into the new edges

plywood pieces cut and precisely fitted

test fitting a speaker

the lower portions hang from brass tubing

all lined up and ready for sanding

sanding off the finish gives them a soft appearance

test fitting some hand cut speaker grills

adding epoxy sealer at night while the temperatures are suitable

epifanes varnish gloss

epifanes varnish matte

tweeter parts that install in the lower parts of the sound vessels

the speaker cones had to be sprayed with sealant to protect them from the elements

this is a bell ringer after a final coat of finish

beginning to wire up the speakers

a tricky process with a precise order of operations

wiring runes through the brass tube to connect the two speakers

almost fully assembled

a complete sound vessel waiting for its tree

the bell ringer houses a 12V solenoid

the bell ringer wired up and ready

1 am with the rigger arriving in 6 hours

early morning sound testing on the couch

an early start - rigging day!

David Freitag, master rigger, lends his considerable talents to the project

little did we know this tree was home to biting ants

David tossing a line into place

David out on a limb

with ants crawling up his legs, David secures the sound vessel

beautiful and strange in context

preparing to hang the bell ringer

Will and David at the bell tree

once installed the ringer is almost invisible

in the magnolia tree

the vessels really looked at home once aloft

a vessel at the villa

they blend in and stand out

like an owl roosting in the tree

assembling and soldering the electronics and programming the microcontrollers

each sound vessel has a control center with a receiver, powers supplies and an arduino and mp3 shield

The deck...

Arriving at Montalvo Arts Center a month early to build the deck

beginning by laying out the framing

elevating the deck on blocks and defining the circle

working on the skirt

shaping plywood for the top

the platform and the step complete

pre-assembly will make work onsite easier

softening and re-staining the edges

ready to take it all apart

adding water protection to the skirt boards

... and to the deck boards

100 degrees forecast - shade, water, and artificial wind... check!

using strapping to tie the frame to the blocks

the heat of the day building

testing stability

blocks are sunken into the lawn to support the frame

measuring, cutting, and fitting the skirt boards on location

fine tuning the fit of the last board

the fan made work in this intense heat bearable

using construction adhesive to help secure the boards

adding the final screws... (or so I thought)

tidying up after a 12 hour day - still 90 degrees

the deck finally finished (as far as we knew)

the scale and positioning felt just right

moments after finishing this father posed for a picture with his 4 month old. It was father's day.

the next morning we realized the extent of the dousing the deck would get from the sprinklers everday

the temperature began to rise. The wet boards would not be able to withstand the heat.

later that day the boards had already started cupping regardless of the way they were put down.

the construction adhesive was no match for this wood movement.

a few weeks later I returned to replace the surface boards with thicker redwood decking material

I also cut draining slots into the plywood to let the sprinkler water drain each day.

re-trimming and rebuilding the step

final touches...

the redwood colors under the stain lend a nice warmth to the deck

after another 12 hour day, a new deck surface.

The final installation and opening...

The chair and the deck, built 2000 miles apart, meet at last.

the scale of the deck to the chair worked out beautifully

a graceful invitation

the view down the great lawn

ready for visitors

the sound vessels had faired well in the trees for the prior month

the exhibition opened and guests were not shy about taking their turn

one of my favorite moments from the day

the docents did a lovely job sharing the spirit of the work with attendees

even at this age (and size) getting the chair to rock was easy

toward evening's end, a procession to honor of the great Pauline Oliveros

This work would not have been possible without the efforts of Montalvo's Kelly Sicat, Donna Conwell, Lori Wood, and Will Moran for his tireless assistance during long and hot installation days. Also the programming talents of Ranjit Bhatnagar, the aerial prowess of David Freitag, the grace of Fran at FedEx Freight, and the generosity (and strength) of my neighbor Craig Wildi. Their presence and energy and commitment to this peace was inspiring. I am forever grateful to them for their support.

This work is dedicated to my late mother Mary Ellen Kitundu. My deepest appreciation is reserved for my wife Shirin Vossoughi and my daughter Azadeh for their love and support. This work would not exist without them.

An overview of the piece as it existed in my mind before construction began.