CANTATA

Medium: Video

Size: 4:03 minutes

Date: 2022

Created by Susan Byrnes and Tess Cortes with choreography by Rodney Veal, dance by Brianna Rhodes, music by Satish Chetty

The video “Cantata” makes its premiere at this exhibition. In 2021, artists Susan Byrnes worked with Choreographer Rodney Veal and dancer Brianna Rhodes to create a photographic series of “light paintings” for the new West branch of the Dayton Metro Library. The project was based on the musical form of a cantata, specifically the piece “Cantata” by Oberlin-trained composer John Carter, and the painting “Cantata” made by Abstract Expressionist painter Norman Lewis, which is part of the collection of the Dayton Art Institute. Rodney Veal create movement to Carter’s music for Brianna Rhodes to perform. Video artist Tess Cortes joined the team to create a video to extend the project beyond still photography, incorporation earlier ideas from “Motion Capture” and pushing them in new directions. In the video “Cantata”, the spare violin soundtrack of traditional religious spirituals, played by Cincinnati-based musician Satish Chetty, recalls those used in Carter’s composition.