Julia Caswell Freund

Espresso

​

Stereo fixed media with 5-screen video

Sound composition by Insun Choi 

Screened in the Center for Experimental Music and Intermedia, Denton, TX

 

Espresso is a micro-manifestation of deep loss and a willful misinterpretation of the words “machine learning." Choi’s electronic sound composition emulates the workings of an espresso machine while expressing isolation, wandering, and mimicry. Freund’s accompanying visuals craft an uncanny partnership between a human and her friendly-looking coffee maker. Reflecting on shared emotions of loneliness during the COVID-19 pandemic, Choi and Freund express through the work a search for proximal human-like connections in the most unlikely of places. A special thanks to Dionne Regis, UNT Psychology PhD candidate, for choreographing and performing this work.