The Sanctuary
A 16-channel composition filled the Sanctuary volume with voices from the Practicing Joy workshop, creating an environmental, semi-narrative soundscape. Audible and subsonic frequencies emanated upwards from the plenum—a cavity beneath the concrete floor—circulating sounds that were felt as well as heard throughout the glass amphitheater space.
Julianne Swartz
Joy, still., 2018
21:38 minutes, 16 channels, electronics, composed soundtracks
Contributions from Kenyon Victor Adams, Grace Farms Foundation Arts Initiative Director; Garnette Cadogan, essayist; Rhys Ellis, composer and performer; Maria Fee, scholar; Ross Gay, poet and essayist; Willie Jennings, theologian; Molly Joyce, composer and performer; Meredith Monk, multidisciplinary artist; Sharon Prince, Grace Farms Foundation President; Pamela Ruggio, Grace Farms Foundation Arts Initiative Curator; Nicole Sealey, poet; and Christian Wiman, poet, translator, editor, and essayist.
Commissioned by Grace Farms Foundation, New Canaan.
Courtesy of Julianne Swartz Studio, Stone Ridge and Josée Bienvenu Gallery, New York City.
The Library
Four hand-carved wooden works are still on display on the shelves in the Library: they transmit poems related to joy. These book-scale forms can be picked up and “read” through multisensory explorations.
Julianne Swartz
Transfer Objects, 2018
Four multisensory works
Bass wood, optical lens, electronics, composed soundtracks
Contributions from Ross Gay, poet and essayist; Stanley Kunitz (1905–2006), poet; Nicole Sealey, poet; and Christian Wiman, poet, translator, editor, and essayist.
Commissioned by Grace Farms Foundation, New Canaan.
Courtesy of Julianne Swartz Studio, Stone Ridge and Josée Bienvenu Gallery, New York City.
The Corridor
The Sanctuary and Library are linked by a curved, resonant corridor that was the site of a four-channel composition featuring theological and poetic perspectives on joy.
Julianne Swartz
Prelude / Postlude, 2018
Four channels, electronics, composed soundtracks
Contributions from Maria Fee, scholar; Willie Jennings, theologian; Meredith Monk, multidisciplinary artist; and Christian Wiman, poet, translator, editor, and essayist.
Commissioned by Grace Farms Foundation, New Canaan.
Courtesy of Julianne Swartz Studio, Stone Ridge, and Josée Bienvenu Gallery, New York City.
Artist Biography
Julianne Swartz was born in Phoenix, Arizona (1967) and currently lives and works in Stone Ridge, New York. She is best known for her interdisciplinary practice, which yields multisensory installations that combine tangible and intangible materials. Swartz earned an MFA from Bard in Annandale-on-Hudson (2002), a BA from University of Arizona in Tucson (1989); and attended Skowhegan School for Painting and Sculpture in Madison (1999). Swartz has presented work at institutions including: Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth; MASS MoCA, North Adams; Institute of Contemporary Art, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond; Museum of Arts and Design, New York; Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indiana; High Line, New York; The Israel Museum, Jerusalem; Tate Museum, Liverpool; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; The New Museum, New York; and The Jewish Museum, New York. Julianne Swartz is represented by Josée Bienvenu Gallery, New York.
