field service

What Will Happen

Groupwork, an interdisciplinary Buffalo-based collective, provides Field Service. An immersive tableau fusing the ethereal and the elemental. Embedded within the trees, skies, and fields, video art, light and soundscapes illuminate and augment the natural surroundings. This project aims to help audiences redefine their understanding of natural space through a curated sensory experience. Staged upon the living canvas of Silo City — a unique post-industrial landscape — the project aims to blur the boundaries between natural and digital landscapes. How can light and audio create a specific feeling or atmosphere? How well do we really know our city, and what hidden elements might exist?

WHAT YOU SHOULD BRING

THE TIME PASSES

As you arrive at 5:00 PM, the opening notes of NO DRIFT echo across the meadow. Suspended from the branches of an old cottonwood, wire mesh faces by MJ MYERS slowly turn, catching the light and your eye as they sway in the breeze. Following the path down the hill, you'll uncover a hidden sound installation by WANDERER/IN SITU, inspired by the chorus of insects, nestled around the flowering contour of the MARLENE MCCARTY earthwork, AGAIN.

As you wander through the green pathways, THE TRELLIS emerges — a willow dome crafted by the UB School of Architecture & Planning and Rigidized Metals. At 5:45 PM, beneath its arching branches, I.Y.B will begin a live generative-audio performance, filling the air with sounds that merge with the natural ambiance.

Further along, the labyrinthine paths of RIVER HILL await, an earthwork by DARA FRIEDMAN. Meandering through this space, you encounter a wind-activated soundscape by JACOB KASSAY, its tones weaving amongst the punctuated granite boulders and standing black locust logs.

If you listen closely, you may be drawn to the gentle, reverberating tones of NEW SPHERE ELECTRIC. This light-activated sound installation resides in a steel tunnel beneath DYLAN BURNS sculpture, RIDDLE STICKS, whose varied steel tubes create a unique blend of sounds when activated with a mallet.

As the golden hour arrives at 6:30 PM, happygroupppp transitions us toward dusk with a flowing mix of pedal steel, acoustic guitar, and electronics, blending seamlessly into the setting sun's glow across the meadow. As twilight settles, lie back and look up as ARC OF CLOSURE begins its ascent at 7:00 PM, guiding us into the evening.

Our closing ceremony takes place inside THE TRELLIS at 7:45 PM, where PEACE DEBT + NP offer an audiovisual experience to illuminate the night, bringing the community together under a canopy of light and sound.

ADDITIONAL INFO

This event is alcohol-free. Duende bar + restaurant will be open before, during, and after the event. Please visit them for food and drink. Guests are welcome to come-and-go as they please during the four hour run-time.

For more details, please read the LOCATION information section.

We'll need some extra hands to produce this, so if you're interested in VOLUNTEERING, please fill out this form.

Field Service is designed to resonate with a diverse audience, ranging from the art-curious and digital natives to the everyday residents of Buffalo and surrounding communities. Whether someone is a seasoned art connoisseur, a music enthusiast, or someone simply intrigued by the unexpected harmony between the digital and the natural world, this experience is crafted with them in mind.