Sarah Peebles is a

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

-based

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

- American composer, improviser and

installation art Installation art is an artistic genre of three-dimensional works that are often site-specific and designed to transform the perception of a space. Generally, the term is applied to interior spaces, whereas exterior interventions are often calle ...

ist originally from

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the List of U.S. states and territories by population, 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minne ...

(USA). Much of her work explores digitally manipulated found sound, unconventional methods of amplification, and distinct approaches to improvisation on the '' shō'' (笙), the Japanese mouth-organ used in ''

gagaku is a type of Japanese classical music that was historically used for imperial court music and dances. was developed as court music of the Kyoto Imperial Palace, and its near-current form was established in the Heian period (794-1185) around ...

'' (Japan's imperial court music). Her installation practice focuses on BioArt which explores the lives of native wild

bee Bees are winged insects closely related to wasps and ants, known for their roles in pollination and, in the case of the best-known bee species, the western honey bee, for producing honey. Bees are a monophyletic lineage within the superfamil ...

pollination Pollination is the transfer of pollen from an anther of a plant to the stigma of a plant, later enabling fertilisation and the production of seeds, most often by an animal or by wind. Pollinating agents can be animals such as insects, birds ...

ecology Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overl ...

and

biodiversity Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic ('' genetic variability''), species ('' species diversity''), and ecosystem ('' ecosystem diversity' ...

. Collectively titled “Resonating Bodies”, much of this activity is in collaboration with other artists, technicians and bee biologists. Peebles' approach to the shō draws from gagaku,

microtonality Microtonal music or microtonality is the use in music of microtones— intervals smaller than a semitone, also called "microintervals". It may also be extended to include any music using intervals not found in the customary Western tuning of ...

and psychoacoustic phenomena of the instrument, and many of her works alter its tuning and microphone placement in creating recordings of performances. She has released several recordings which include the instrument, including the album “Delicate Paths” (Unsounds 42U, 2014), which highlights her distinct approaches to performing, recording and composing for the shō. That album features a foreword and images dedicated to the instrument's

ethnobotanical Ethnobotany is the study of a region's plants and their practical uses through the traditional knowledge of a local culture and people. An ethnobotanist thus strives to document the local customs involving the practical uses of local flora for m ...

and ethnozoological connections to ancient Asia, and includes guest performers Evan Parker, Nilan Perera, and Suba Sankaran. Peebles' “Resonating Bodies” projects, initiated in 2008, feature a series of amplified habitat sculptures for solitary bees, titled "Audio Bee Booths" and "Audio Bee Cabinets". These permanent outdoor works utilize

cabinetry A cabinet is a case or cupboard with shelves and/or drawers for storing or displaying items. Some cabinets are stand alone while others are built in to a wall or are attached to it like a Bathroom cabinet, medicine cabinet. Cabinets are typically ...

and other

woodworking Woodworking is the skill of making items from wood, and includes cabinet making (cabinetry and furniture), wood carving, joinery, carpentry, and woodturning. History Along with stone, clay and animal parts, wood was one of the first mate ...

electronics The field of electronics is a branch of physics and electrical engineering that deals with the emission, behaviour and effects of electrons using electronic devices. Electronics uses active devices to control electron flow by amplification ...

pyrography Pyrography or pyrogravure is the free handed art of decorating wood or other materials with burn marks resulting from the controlled application of a heated object such as a poker. It is also known as pokerwork or wood burning. The term means " ...

, and earth-based building techniques (

adobe Adobe ( ; ) is a building material made from earth and organic materials. is Spanish for '' mudbrick''. In some English-speaking regions of Spanish heritage, such as the Southwestern United States, the term is used to refer to any kind of ...

and cob). Resonating Bodies, is a series of integrated media installations, community outreach projects and a web site which illuminates aspects of Canada's biodiversity through focusing on pollination ecology, with special attention paid to the intersection of native bees, habitat and coevolution of plants and pollinators of the Greater Toronto Area and beyond (See "Resonating Bodies" at wordpress and on Facebook). Other activities over the past 3 decades have been wide-ranging, including music for dance, multi-channel sound, radio, video/film,

performance art Performance art is an artwork or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or other participants. It may be witnessed live or through documentation, spontaneously developed or written, and is traditionally presented to a pu ...

and integrated media, sound installation and improvised performance; the duo “Smash and Teeny” with guitarist Nilan Perera, and trio “Cinnamon Sphere” with Perera and painter Chung Gong. Her music is published on Unsounds, Cycling '74, innova Recordings, Spool, Post-Concrète, CBC Music, Sonus.ca (Canadian Electroacoustic Community's free library) and others.

References

Kalvos Chronicle of the NonPop Revolution' biographical page, accessed 3 February 2010

External links

* ttp://www.sarahpeebles.net/ Sarah Peebles official sitebr>Resonating Bodies projects siteSonus online listening library of electroacoustic works, created and managed by the CECCBC Music artist page, Sarah Peebles Modern Farmer: "Listening In On Solitary Bees" by Tyler LeBlanc, July 2014 "Delicate Paths" review by Nick Storring, issue 120 Fall 2014 Make Magazine: "Buzz Booth" by Andrew Salomone, May 2014 The Wire: "Sarah Peebles: Electronic Bug Culture" by Marcus Boon, May 2003
{{DEFAULTSORT:Peebles, Sarah 1964 births American women composers 21st-century American composers Canadian composers Living people Artists from Minnesota Artists from Toronto Shō players American women in electronic music American installation artists 21st-century American women musicians 21st-century women composers