JJJJJerome Ellis: Fountain #2
Wednesday, March 17th at 8pm EST, composer, poet, and performer JJJJJerome Ellis opens his 2021 ISSUE residency with the premiere of Fountain #2.
Continuing his pre-pandemic practice of giving live sound baths, as well as his ongoing investigation into forms of "infinite music" like loops and drones, Ellis offers a "fountain,” a perpetual piece of music that will play on the ISSUE website for 24 hours a day from February 17th to March 17th. Ellis invites listeners to visit the fountain as often as they want, for as long as they want, and he encourages them to use the music to accompany the rhythms of their lives and to support their healing. We all need healing.
A chat function will be provided, where listeners can share how they're using the fountain (to accompany walking, napping, prayer, toenail clipping, etc.) or what they're bringing to the fountain (grief, gratitude, boredom, etc.). On March 17th specifically, Ellis will present a performance of the fountain. Audio description and captions will be provided. Ellis will create the music on Lenapehoking, the traditional territory of the Lenni-Lenape. The performance will be streamed via Vimeo, which is headquartered on Lenapehoking as well.
JJJJJerome Ellis is a composer, poet, and performer. His current practice explores blackness, music, and disabled speech as forces of refusal and healing. JJJJJerome’s work has been heard at Lincoln Center, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Poetry Project, Sotheby’s, Soho Rep, and on This American Life. He’s a 2019 MacDowell Colony Fellow, a writer in residence at Lincoln Center Theater, and a 2015 Fulbright Fellow. JJJJJerome collaborates with James Harrison Monaco as James & Jerome (or Jerome & James). Their recent work explores themes of border crossing and translation through music-driven narratives. They have received commissions from the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Ars Nova.
ISSUE Project Room gratefully acknowledges the collaboration of The Poetry Project, who generously partner with ISSUE on the promotion of artists and performance events that fully reflect the cultural diversity of New York City.
ISSUE Project Room's Artist-in-Residence program is made possible, in part, with support from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.
