December 21, 2023

These are 5 1-minute excerpts from "River-Rising", a 4-channel video installation by artist Ellen Kozak and composer Scott D. Miller. It is filmed from the shorelines of three river estuaries, the Garonne River in France, the Bilbao Estuary, and the Hudson River. Also, interspersed throughout the channels are recurring rhythmic passages of nighttime illumination filmed along the Venice Lagoon. River-Rising is comprised of intimately observed and gradually changing images that inspire an identification with the river as a living organism. Abstract in their appearance, the images convey the movement and luminosity of rivers without offering views or realistic representations. Kozak uses the surface of the river as a giant aquatic lens and synthesizer that assimilates reflection, color, movement and pattern. The video channels and musical score vary in length; playing as non-synchronized loops, viewers experience ever-evolving configurations. In continuous play, any composition of all four channels will not repeat for more than 11 years. Embedded in this lyrical work is deep unease about the ecological damage that we continue to inflict upon our living waterways. Close observation deepens our connection to the environment. This connection is viscerally underlined by Scott D. Miller’s musical composition. Miller's score is written for 11 wind instruments—an ensemble of clarinets, trombones and tuba. It is conceived as a series of larger and smaller wave forms.