Other Minds Festival:
OM 4, Concert 1: 07 “Mona-Lisa” by Laetitia Sonami, Pamela Z & Donald Swearingen

Laetitia Sonami, Donald Swearingen, and Pamela Z, collaborated with Japanese video artists Visual Brains to create “Mona-Lisa,” a full-length performance work employing live music and video. “Mona-Lisa” is set in three large sections each introduced by a spoken narrative from a text by Melody Sumner Carnahan. In each section the narrative is followed by a musical section which evolves with increasing levels of complexity, finally disintegrating into its constituent elements, a sort of sonic dust. Sonami's computer-generated rhythms form the backdrop against which the disintegration is measured. Pamela Z's vocalization represents a lyrical element whose repeated appearances serve to reconnect us to the elemental Mona. Swearingen's percussive and metallic samples provide layers of punctuation and accentuation to the thematic elements. Visual Brains video displays provide the visual architecture for the cityscape in which we imagine the events are unfolding. This recording captures the U.S. premiere of “Mona-Lisa.”