Wilderness Mute
2018. Ongoing Project.
Wilderness Mute first premiered in Seattle in 2017, as a musical, operatic composition written by Keiko Fujiie in response to the nuclear bombing of Nagasaki on August 9th, 1945. The work has since evolved into an hour long performance that incorporates video, poetry, and butoh dance choreographed by myself. This expanded work commemorates the atomic attack on Nagasaki, Hiroshima and places such as Trinity Site which have endured environmental degradations as a result of the early advancement of nuclear weapons. Concurrently it considers international, political, and militaristic tensions in the present-day world, hoping to raise awareness and prevent further nuclear disasters. Wilderness Mute has toured in Barcelona, Berlin, Ohio, Missouri, and New York. The 2021 rendition of Wilderness Mute was live streamed from Berlin in March. For this premiere, I made a film at the Rio Grande river in Albuquerque, New Mexico, which is accompanied by a violin duo composed by Keiko Fujiie.
This project was supported by the Nomura Foundation and the Fulcrum Fund, a grant program of 516 ARTS made possible by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.
Link to live streamed 2021 film here.

Photograph of Keiko (left) and Karina (right)
Ohio performance, 2018.

Photograph of Karina
Ohio performance, 2018.
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