CCM Piano students form interdisciplinary art collective

The exhibition took place from May 2-6 at Huacheng Square in Guangzhou, China and consisted of 10 screens across the square that showed the group’s most recent art film. The music for the film is Sherman’s performance of William Bolcom’s Piano Étude No. 12, “Hymne à l’amour,” which was played throughout the square. Watch the art film on Music X Habitat X Art's YouTube channel.

The collaboration began two years ago and evolved into a means of sharing interdisciplinary performances during the COVID-19 pandemic. It strives to push audiences beyond their preconceived notions of classical music performance and to experience the ways a musical experience changes when tied to a visual performance. In addition to lending their musical skills to the project, Huang and Sherman also contribute visual art and editing, including photographic manipulation and animations.

The current series from Music X Habitat X Art is called “The Ascent of Movement Series, MUSIC—ART—WORKS.” The video exhibited in China, titled The Horizonless River, 7’25” is the fourth video of the series. It seeks to represent a never-ending circle of movement, always pushing forward, but never ending and never beginning.

Music X Habitat X Art has plans for more solo exhibitions later this year and is already working on its newest video, which will include Huang’s recordings of Julia Wolfe’s Earring and Unsuk Chin’s Piano Étude No. 6, “Grains.”