Abstract Expressions is a sound and garden installation envisioned by composer and artist Nathan Hall in collaboration with Kevin Philip Williams, assistant curator and horticulturist at the Denver Botanic Gardens. The Museum installed the sound works, plants, and signage in April–May 2023. This multi-year collaboration between CSM and its communities seeks to honor the prairies of Still’s life and provide a fundamental connection with Denver by creating an interdisciplinary sense of place. It is the first time the Museum has reconceptualized the terraces since opening in 2011.
Seasonal Update
Spring and early summer growth graces the terraces, with reawakened and regenerating plants as well as newly germinating seedlings. Spring flowers will soon give way to abundant seedheads and vibrant summer blooms, while grasses sway gently, adding an ethereal, gauzy texture to the space.
Artist and composer Nathan Hall made the summer music additions by recording electrochemical impulses from the plants and translating them to various MIDI instruments. The music collage tracks many more plants in the Spring than when they are dormant, forming a chaotic orchestra, which melds together, filling various types of sonic “space.” In addition to the new seasonal tracks, several other pieces from 20 Works in 20 Minutes reappear, incorporating melodies for clarinet, percussion, violin, and small handheld instruments.
About Abstract Expressions
When visitors step out onto the terraces, their presence will cue Hall’s original sound compositions. The works’ ephemeral and immersive nature inspires visitor meditation and encourages a deeper connection to the artworks found within the galleries.
