Serena Korda creates large-scale ensemble performances that frequently combine her ceramic sculptures and sonic investigations. Her sculptural assemblages often become instruments for people to play. There is a playful spiritualism in Korda’s performances, experiments, and gatherings, which treats everything that is unexplained—whether religious, extraterrestrial, or scientific—with the same generous wonder and sincerity.
For the High Line, Korda presents Missing Time, a new immersive sound performance developed for the Falcone Flyover, between 25th and 27th Streets. Missing Time considers the history and mythology of the High Line as a “thin place”—a portal to other worlds—while exploring its transformation and invisible histories. The piece features the a cappella group Mouthful (Dave Camlin, Sharon Durant, Bex Mather, and Katherine Zeserson), who improvise across specific frequencies derived from planets otherwise known as the “Music of the Spheres.” Visitors experience the singers’ voices and manipulated radio waves through stereo headphones that play a mixed version of the sounds captured through a microphone located under the pathway and mixed by the artist.
Organized by Melanie Kress, High Line Art Associate Curator.
Serena Korda (b. 1979, London, United Kingdom) lives and works in London, United Kingdom. Recent solo projects and exhibitions have been presented at BALTIC Centre of Contemporary Art, Gateshead, United Kingdom (2018), Glasgow International, Scotland (2016); and Camden Arts Centre, London, United Kingdom. Korda’s films and performances have been shown in various exhibitions at the Wellcome Collection, London, United Kingdom (2011); and Turner Contemporary, Margate, United Kingdom (2011). Her residencies include the Norma Lipman/BALTIC fellowship in Ceramic Sculpture at Newcastle University, United Kingdom (2017); The Museum of Jurassic Technology, Los Angeles, California (2014); and Camden Arts Centre, London, United Kingdom (2012).
Lead support for High Line Art comes from Amanda and Don Mullen. Major support for High Line Art is provided by The Brown Foundation, Inc. of Houston, and Charina Endowment Fund. High Line Art is supported, in part, with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, and from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the New York City Council, under the leadership of Speaker Corey Johnson.