Artist-in-Residence

Deidre Huckabay

In January of 2021, Deidre Huckabay attended artists residency at the Glasner Studio in Old Town, Chicago. Huckabay is a musician, performer, photographer, and multi-instrumentalist whose art is composed in a variety of different forms and media. During her time at the Studio, Huckabay experimented with a new technical instrument, a Korg MS20 synthesizer, which she used to produce meditative, shifting tones that invite listeners to actively listen through a harmonic soundscape.

Her residency culminated in the production of a record, using the synthesizer to produce a series of complex and long-decaying tones that evolve and ultimately disintegrate over the course of more than an hour. The album entitled Words for the Dead / Words from the Dead, encourages listeners to actively listen within the space of their present experience. Learn more and order a cassette or digital version of the album below.

Video Credits:
Music Composition, Arrangement & Sound Production | Deidre Huckabay
Cinematography, Direction & Editing | Jeff Kruse

“Words for the Dead / Words from the Dead is a first-time solo recording project I created in an attempt to transmit messages to and from lost loved ones. The record is a series of complex and long-decaying tones that evolve and ultimately disintegrate over the course of more than an hour. I encourage those who listen to it to practice letting go—letting go of the tones as they evaporate, letting go of thoughts, desires, and feelings, letting go of the ego along with them.

“There is grief at work here, too. I believe the incessant intonation of these decaying sounds, together with the special kind of listening they ask for, creates an opportunity to experience deep grief. At one point on the record, I sing and shout a message to a deceased loved one—“I love you, stay with me, til I go.” I am always listening for messages from them, in my life and on this record, too. Although I am expressing a personal grief on the record, I hope the record connects people to their own feelings of loss. Grief doesn’t have to come in the form of a loved one’s death. It comes with every sincere effort to transform or change, to meet the given circumstance with integrity and courage. Eventually, I will let go of grief along with everything else—but for now, I’m content to have this record as a reminder of my experience of loss in this moment.”

ORDER A COPY OF WORDS FOR THE DEAD / WORDS FROM THE DEAD HERE

“ This completely open and forgiving attitude—things are simple, you get better, you will know if you are on track—guided me throughout the entire residency.”

Reflecting on Time at the Glasner Studio

“Time at the Glasner Studio was truly transformative for me. As I mentioned previously, I spent most of my time at the studio listening, generating long sustained sounds and following them around the room in a kind of walking meditation. I also restarted a practice of seated meditation after a 12-year hiatus. I developed some truly useful daily writing and reflecting rituals. Altogether, these processes enabled me to complete a major solo project—something I had been trying to accomplish for nearly two years with little success.

“Edgar Miller’s work is abundantly, ridiculously creative. It is as if Miller thought of no medium, subject, or situation as being off-limits. Ceramics, stained glass, wood carvings, tile work, fire places, lamps, paintings, panels, furniture, wallpaper—decorative, functional, everyday, profound, symbolic, playful. Fine art, restaurant interiors, designed objects, apartment complexes. I gather from my experience at the residency that this incredible range and abundance of work was possible because Miller took a somewhat playful, easy attitude toward his work, carving without first sketching, repurposing scraps and unlikely industrial materials, letting flaws and mistakes be, trying out new techniques with a sense of curiosity and openness.

“‘Your first act will tell you whether you are on the right track or not,’ Edgar wrote. ‘Everything is basically simple, and you get better as you go along.’” This completely open and forgiving attitude—things are simple, you get better, you will know if you are on track—guided me throughout the entire residency. At first I felt it bordered on braggadocio. But when I ran into doubts during my work, I channeled the easy confidence of this quotation.” In particular, I had intended for the residency to be a time for me to explore and understand my first synthesizer, a Korg MS20. As with Miller and wood carving, I feel the synthesizer will play a big role in my future music making. When I started the residency, I worried about all I need to learn, all I need to know to become a “true” artist on the synthesizer. Miller’s reminder was exactly what I needed—it helped me get out of my own way and experience the satisfaction of learning by doing. And now my first record is, to my surprise, an hour of synthesizer music.

- Deidre Huckabay