The Tenacity of a Fluid Trace

Smack Mellon, NY, 2022

https://www.smackmellon.org/exhibition/luba-drozd-the-tenacity-of-a-fluid-trace/

Site-specific sound and animation installation with piano strings, Arduino, steel beams, steel sheets, natural light, Mimosa Pudica plants, earth, water-soluble 3D prints, motors, architecture, and a three-channel projection.

Curated by Rachel Vera Steinberg

Documentation photography by Etienne Frossard

Smack Mellon presents Luba Drozd’s first large scale solo exhibition in New York City in conjunction with the launch of the Close Readings exhibition series.

In a sprawling installation comprising construction materials–drywall, steel beams, and sheet metal–and motors attached to piano strings and tuned to various frequencies, Drozd uses the tension between these materials to produce a complex sonic landscape that unfolds across the main gallery space. The installation combines natural light with projected animation of false shadows to illuminate various corners while abstracting the building’s unique architecture. Several mimosa pudica plants, commonly known as “sensitive plants,” which respond to physical contact, are also incorporated into the installation, underscoring the tactile nature of the sound produced exclusively through vibrating materials without translation or amplification. 

The installation explores links between empathy, humanity, and the primordial composition of the universe through the artist’s deep investigation of matter. It centers sensory experience to consider how humans are flexibly and intuitively connected on a molecular level through the reliance on elements linking terrestrial life to the Moon, planets in the solar system, and, most importantly, each other. 

The title of this exhibition refers to the first written account of a volcano’s eruption, documented by Francesco Serao, in which he coined the term “lava.” In this text, Serao probed the properties of molten rock, including its reverberation, density, thermal resistance, and color, to understand the limits of its materiality. Similarly, Drozd’s installation practice has developed over the years through deep observation, listening, and coaxing sonic information out of her materials.