María Elena González, Rings-Revolutions, 2020, vinyl LP (photograph provided by the artist)
Maria Elena González’s Tree Talk series created unique music compositions designed for a pianola or a self-playing piano. As the series continued to develop, González thought more about the accessibility of the project, hoping to create new formats and opportunities for her work to reach wider audiences. In 2020, González self-produced her vinyl record, Rings/Revolutions, which archived the sounds of her Skowhegan Birch #1, #2, #3 artworks. These alluring, yet muted, green, transparent vinyl records are presented in a white record sleeve with birch markings. They are also limited edition, the artist produced a batch of two hundred records, with an additional limited edition of twenty-five that include an original drawing from the series. González hopes to mass-produce them in the future with the intent that people can continue to activate and listen to the birch trees themselves.
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