Mar, Mar, e Mar

Mar, Mar, e Mar was commissioned by the PRax Performing Arts Center to celebrate the theater center's grand opening on the Oregon State University campus in Corvallis, OR on April 6, 2024.. Lead artist Fernanda D'Agostino invited Laura Cannon to create a dance solo to inhabit the installation using the prompt, "if you could speak for the earth, what would you say?"  

Mar, Mar e Mar is inspired by the poetry of Eugénio Andrade, whose mysterious and tender ruminations on the sea express what often goes unconsidered in the current age of ecological loss. Working with the Ocean Observatory Institute and a host of creative performers, Mar, Mar e Mar was developed as an immersive video and sound installation that brings to life the spirit of Andrade’s writing. Mar, Mar e Mar uses creative coding to combine scientific imaging, performance, and sound, in scenes that shift based on randomization programming. Unexpected combinations of imagery and sound emerge, with no beginning or end.

Performers were asked to embody the prompt, “speak for the sea using only your bodies, hands and face.” D’Agostino presents the performers’ considered responses manipulated with the mathematical processes of fluid dynamics and layered with the biological processes of marine life.

The installation was additionally inspired by OSU faculty Virginia Weis’ reflections on the role of symbiosis in nature and the realization that we are not separate from the rest of the living world. Live performance by Laura Cannon. Pre-recorded performances featuring Lisa Kusanagi, with Sophia Wright Emigh, Jaleesa Johnston, Min Yoon, and ProLab Dance Company.
Sound installation by Crystal Quartez.