Maya Ciarrocchi

LoopCurrentShort Description LoopCurrentis an interdisciplinaryperformancethat imagineshumankind’senvironmental impact on the planet and the irrevocably altered future. Theproject usesmovement, sound, seismology, and interactive textiles to reference looping time, whereour past actions weave through our present and future realities.Project DescriptionLoopCurrentis a performance installation that imagines our environmental impact onthe planet and the irrevocably altered future. The "Loop Current" is an oceanographicterm describing a flow of warm water that affects the strength of tropical cyclones. Theproject uses movement, sound, seismology, and interactive textiles to reference LoopCurrent pathways, their destructive alterations, and looping time, where our past actionsweave through our present and future realities.LoopCurrent'sstructure is determined by sound and seismographic measurements ofthe earth's vibrations relative to human movement patterns. This data will be recordedwith portable seismographs and waterproof contact microphones in the Baltic Sea andVistula Estuary, two waterbodies that have been centuries-old conduits for humanmigration and trade.The seismic measurements, rendered as waveforms and spectralfrequencies, will inform the work's sound and movement score.Dancers and musicians will perform the score wearing garments made from fabricprinted with waterways and speculative cities of thefuture entwined with artifacts fromthe extractive industry: oil rigs, transmission towers, and the earthly wounds left bymining. These garments are survival suits engineered to protect our future bodies asthey navigate an increasingly treacherous world. The garments will be sewn withconductive thread, which, when activated by the performers, will produce soundsderived from the field recordings and seismic data. These sounds will be looped into theoverall sound composition by the accompanying musicians.LoopCurrentpresents a world comprised of movement, sound, and images dug up byarcheologists long after we are dust. These future relics appear now as a transmittedwarning, as time-traveled evidence of a disaster, or perhaps as a cry for help.LoopCurrentis createdbyMaya Ciarrocchiin collaborationwithJoanna Duda–sound composition and designNatalia Chylińska–movement score KatarzynaPastuszak-movement scoreSarah Laux-garment designLoopCurrentis made possible by the New York StateCouncil on the Arts with thesupport of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the ArtsforLoopCurr

We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts for LoopCurrent.

Biography

Maya Ciarrocchiis a Canadian American artistwhose work excavates vanished andinaccessible histories.Her previous career as a dancer/choreographer and theatricaldesigner allowed her to work across disciplines, from site-specific performance to large-scale projectionsin traditional and experimental theatrical venues. These pastexperiences inform Ciarrocchi's interdisciplinary studio practice, which includes mixedmedia, alternative-process photography, video, and movement-based performance. Bycombining personal and historical narratives with spatial and embodied mapping,Ciarrocchi uncovers buried pasts and highlights how these erasures manifest in thepresent. The resulting two-dimensional, time-based, and performative investigationsconstruct new, fantastical spacesfrom the residue of loss.Ciarrocchi’s work has been exhibited in the United States, Canada, and Europe. Shehas been awarded residencies in the United States from the Baryshnikov Arts Center,Bronx Museum of the Arts, MacDowell, Millay Arts, and Ucrossto name a few. She hareceived grants and awards from the Bay and Paul Foundation, Bronx Council on theArts, Canada Council for the Arts, Foundation for Contemporary Arts, Franklin FurnaceFund, Jerome Foundation, Map Fund, Mertz Gilmore, Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation,New York State Council on the Arts, Puffin Foundation, and the Trust for MutualUnderstanding. In addition to her studio practice, Ciarrocchi has created award-winningprojectionsdesign for dance and theater. Ciarrocchi earned anMaster’s in Fine ArtinComputer Art from the School of Visual Arts,in New York City, and a Bachelor’s ofFineArtin Dance from Purchase College, Purchase, NewYork .