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MELT: the memory of ice (topographic remix), by Betsey Biggs
June 11 – June 14
Emerson Contemporary has joined hands with the International Computer Music Conference (ICMC), one of the world’s largest and most prestigious gatherings of sound artists, electroacoustic composers, and music technologists from across the globe. As a part of the installation track of ICMC 2025, presenting Betsey Bigg’s MELT: the memory of ice – on display at Emerson Contemporary’s Media Art Gallery from June 11th – 14th.
Betsey made MELT after wandering around the world’s most active glacier, in Ilullisat, Greenland, with her mother and 5-year-old daughter and the film’s cinematographer, Troy Fairbanks. All synthesizers are made out of processed field recordings from this trip. The slow film stills and music are increasingly interrupted by audiovisual glitches, representing tipping points of our warming climate; the timing of these glitches was determined by a Max patch converting sea ice extent data to probability.
The vocal music was created collaboratively with the members of Moving Star vocal ensemble from an open score Betsey composed. The music was recorded by Jeff Cook at 2nd Story Sound, mixed by Michael Hammond of Big Ship Audio, and the spatial Dolby Atmos mix was created with Sean Winters. The film itself premiered at the IMAX Theatre at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.
On MELT: the memory of ice, Betsey writes, “As an installation, I wanted to truly use the gallery space to do something more than just press play on a movie, to explore the imaginative possibilities of transforming and relocating the sounds and visuals, to create a new kind of space for the audience to wander through. The visual transformations, especially, allow me to understand the images in a different, more imaginary way: a kind of inner topography. So I’ve titled this installation work MELT: the memory of ice (topographic remix).“
Artist Statement
Betsey Biggs (Writer/Director/Composer) is a composer and media artist whose work
connects the dots between sound, image, place and technology. Her work has been described by the New Yorker as “psychologically complex, exposing how we orient ourselves with our ears.” For more than twenty-five years, she has composed music, created live multimedia performances, and created participatory art installations. She earned a Ph.D. in music composition at Princeton University, and has taught music, multimedia, public art, photography, and video at Brown University, RISD, and the University of Colorado Boulder, where she currently serves as Assistant Professor of Critical Media Practices.
Troy Fairbanks (Director of Photography) has a well-rounded filmmaking career as a
director, videographer, cinematographer, and drone operator. His Denver production companies, Makēda Creative and Rise Aerials, specialize in action sports, documentaries, and drone cinematography. He has created more than 800 video projects in 31 countries, with a special focus on flying FPV drones for commercial purposes. When he’s not behind the camera, you can find Troy and his wife traveling the world in their converted school bus, enjoying the outdoors and board sports, and chasing one adventure or another.
Moving Star is a vocal ensemble creating original music infused with improvisation. They are an artistic community partner of the Carnegie Hall Education Wing. The performers of Moving Star have collaborated with Meredith Monk, Julia Wolfe, Ann Hamilton, and Sufjan
Stevens, and have performed at Zankel Hall, Whitney Museum, La MaMa, Symphony Space,
and elsewhere.
MELT: the memory of ice – on display at Emerson Contemporary’s Media Art Gallery from June 11th – 14th.
