Artist-in-Residence
Ben LaMar Gay
In the summer of 2017 Edgar Miller Legacy hosted composer Ben LaMar Gay at the Glasner Studio, a masterwork of art and architecture created by Edgar Miller (1899-1993). His residency culminated in the public performance of a new work, The Manipulation of Lines & Breff . Gay’s showcase took place on June 17th, 2017.
Gay’s work was directly inspired by Edgar Miller’s Garden of Paradise windows in the Glasner Studio in Old Town, Chicago. The idea of “lines” and “breff” (breath) harkened back to Gay’s memories of childhood, sparked by the interplay of light, stained glass, starkness, and clarity as experienced in the Studio’s inspirational environment. His final performance showcased his masterful use of the cornet, banjo, monochord zither, standing bells, Tibetan singing bowls, and electronic synthesizer to create a transformative soundscape.
Below are ideas and a poem by Gay that express some of his feelings inspired by his time in the Glasner Studio, and performed as spoken word during his residency showcase.
Video Credits:
Music Composition & Performance | Ben LaMar Gay
Cinematography | Mark Pallman
Editing | William FitzPatrick & Konstantin Jace
Lines & Breff
In reminiscence of a personally transcendent moment, Lines & Breff articulates vignettes from childhood, combining youthful imagination, storytelling, and folksinging into a living poetic experience.
«Lines and Breff»
«Now»
«They super tight with the Sun»
«On summer days you see them around»
«Playing catch»
«The three of them»
«Pop flies everywhere»
«All dramatic and stuff»
«Of course it’s hard for the Sun to participate»
«Always too busy putting color on everything»
«Cain’t catch nothing with full hands»
«In the backyards of others many stray balls fall»
«Lines and Breff»
«Don’t mind the process of retrieval»
«You see»
«They love them some softness»
«There’s nothing better than hopping fences and racing in between»
«Clotheslines»
«That’s where the softness lives»
«Within canyons of fresh summer linens drying in the warm of»
«The Sun»
«The sun and them»
«They tight»
«One day Lines made a ball out of pure earth and tossed it»
«High as high could only dream of being»
«Lines and Breff are gone»
«At the speed of sunlight»
«Tracking the ball of earth via its shadow»
«They figured the Sun ain’t paying no mind»
«Get the ball»
«Zigzagging through many yards»
«Laughing in between and underneath wires draped in comfort»
«Joy»
«They ran so fast and far that they lost track of the earth’s shadow»
«Finding themselves in a secret garden»
«Surrounded by questions and curiosities of others»
«Fear, fetishes and vegetables»
«Smiles, shame and sassafras»
«From them, you, me, him, us, she»
«Deer had a case. Ram did too»
«Eagle is a stool pigeon»
«Lines and Breff»
«They rascal around but mean no harm»
«Horse and Otter have doubts»
«Now»
«Remember the ball of earth that Lines tossed»
«It kept going»
«Making the Sun backpedal through clouds with glove in hand»
«It dropped all its buckets of paint for a spectacular grab at the fence»
«With all its light»
«The Sun fired that ball back into play»
«Right before the gavel dropped on Lines and Breff»
«Listen Here»
«The sound of the ball landing in the glove of Lines shook the ground»
«The crack of the leather shattered every window around the garden»
«Then came the paint»
«Buckets and Buckets»
«Them folks been stuck in glass and color ever since»
«That’s why there are stained glass windows today»
«Folks meddling with the fun of the Sun»
«Lines and Breff»
«They rascal around but mean no harm»
For all the balls that have left me for the neighbor’s yard
Interested in becoming an Artist-in-Residence? Learn more & apply here: edgarmiller.org/residency-program/