Harris, Liz

Harris, Liz

Music For Two Films About Water

Kranky

Liz Harris aka Grouper has worked with film closely since she began making and performing music live—both her own work, and that of various filmmakers—including a near decade long collaboration with Paul Clipson, and multiple live collaborations with Dicky Bahto and Takashi Makino. On Music For Two Films About Water she presents two recent scores for short films by the artists Tanja Engelberts and Takashi Makino. Each film, as the album title suggests, is an exploration of water, though beyond that, each work and soundtrack varies—blending literal, improvisatory and impressionistic translations of the theme. Her accompaniment layers mercurial threads of mellotron, tape loops, Wurlitzer and field recordings.“Untitled (from We Exhale)”—This piece was originally composed for the film We Exhale. In the film, artist Tanja Engelberts takes the perspective of the river itself, tracing how centuries of damming, channelling, and industrial pollution have reduced the Rhône from a living landscape to a hydraulic object—its breath slowly distorting as chemical processes break down what remains. Her work asks what a poisoned river sounds like when it exhales, confronting us with damage that operates beyond human timescales, already embedded in the river’s body. In her artistic practice, Engelberts investigates how landscapes that are no longer visible can be documented. Rather than excavating the past, she collects and rearranges what she finds on the surface—as a creative exposition of the present. Engelberts’ work places attention on the ‘here’ and ‘now’, allowing traces of the past to be recognized while possible futures can be imagined.“Untitled...