New MANY HANDS Complete Collection & 2021 In Review
A moment to say — I hope you all have a good end of the year and find ways to thrive and find meaning in the new year.
The news here is that I've released a new 24-movement version of Many Hands, folding the previous two volumes together, and adding several new tracks. I've also renamed everything to more explicitly reflect the people and places of Appalachian Ohio that I admire. This includes Richard L. Davis, a prominent black labor organizer, who in the 1880s helped form the United Mine Workers; Sam Jones, a boxing trainer who owns Sam's Gym in Glouster (the nation's oldest boxing gym), offering young people a chance to believe in themselves; Cheryl Blosser, a local historian who has spent a lifetime uncovering hidden stories of the region and advocating for the people who live there; Sophia Mitchell, the first black female mayor in Ohio (Rendville, 1969); as well as my own father, a typewriter repairman.
As a newsletter subscriber, if you are interested in purchasing Many Hands you can use this code ("hands") for 20% off. And, if you already own either volume one or two, just send me an email (bharnetty@gmail.com) and I'll send you a link to the new collection.
And finally, if you are interested in the conversations and projects I've been so lucky to be a part of this year, I've compiled a list of them below. I so enjoyed talking with writer and musician Dao Strom, film artist Mary Lucier, Alex Teplitzky at Creative Capital, scholar Mack Haygood at the Phantom Power podcast, and more. It's also astonishing to me that the year began with the Creative Capital premiere of Shawnee, Ohio, and ended with Forest Listening Rooms installed at the Columbus Museum of Art, as well as being a part of the "Critical Zones" exhibition at ZKM, Germany. It is both amazing and humbling to have these chances to interact with such thoughtful and fascinating people.
Be well and Happy New Year — Brian
MANY HANDS - THE COMPLETE COLLECTION ON BANDCAMP
Here is a new, complete collection of MANY HANDS on Bandcamp — remastered (thanks to Secret Studio), reordered, renamed, and with new tracks — exploring LANDSCAPES and LABOR in Appalachian Ohio. The old phrase, “many hands make light work” is the starting point, where people work together toward a common cause and are greater for it.
The landscapes are named after small towns in Appalachian Ohio — from Moxahala to San Toy to Junction City (my father’s birthplace) — and evoke their natural and human rhythms. The labor portraits are named after past and present local people and their jobs, from prominent black labor organizers and boxing coaches, to miners and moonshiners. They reflect the shared rhythms of manual, community, and care labor that form the fabric of the region.
And, if you are into music scores, you can find a newly revised version here. (Again, if you have already have an earlier version of the score, I am happy to send you the new one — just send an email to bharnetty@gmail.com).
FOREST LISTENING ROOMS ON BANDCAMP, STREAMING
This new version of Forest Listening Rooms is now both on Bandcamp and on all of the major streaming services. Joel Oliphint at Columbus Alive wrote a nice article on it here.
EXHIBITIONS & PERFORMANCES
Creative Capital Premiere at the Wexner Center for the Arts - "Shawnee, Ohio"
Gund Gallery Sound Installation - "Where the Forest Meets the Field"
Columbus Museum of Art - "Partially Buried: Land-Based Art In Ohio, 1970-Now"
Solo Exhibition at Otterbein University - "Common Ground: Listening to Appalachian Ohio"
"Ways of Listening to Forests," part of the "Critical Zones" Exhibition, Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe, ZKM, Germany
WRITINGS, PODCASTS, & CONVERSATIONS
Resonance Journal - “Listening to the Democratic Forest”
Hoosac Institute - In Conversation with Mary Lucier and Anna Talarico
Aquarium Drunkard - In Conversation with Dao Strom
Phantom Power - Podcast with Mack Haygood on Forest Listening Rooms
Covid Conversations - Podcast with Finnish composer, sound artist, and filmmaker Päiví Takala
Where the Forest Meets the Field - Gund Gallery Activation Guide
Dublin Arts Council - Sense of Place, a Fieldbook for Public Art
And, of course, I need to thank the MAP Fund for their invaluable support over the past two years, helping to fund two different projects. The MAP Fund helps so many artists, and I am lucky to be among them.
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