DEER ISLE — The Island Soundscape Project presents “5 Preserves”, an audio-video gallery exhibition documenting moments in time at five different Maine Coast Heritage Trust preserves, premiering at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts gallery in Deer Isle village, on Wednesday, Aug. 7 and running through Saturday, Aug. 24 with an opening reception on Aug. 7 from 4–6 p.m.
Each video features a single, stationary camera shot paired with a surround sound track recorded onsite, presenting each preserve as a vignette. “Five vignettes create a repeating reel, which might be thought of as ambient media art, equal parts witness to place and invitation to experience the world in a sharp focus,” says N.B.Aldrich. Aldrich continues, for this project, “We regard MCHT’s rich soundscape as community, educational, aesthetic, and artistic resources to be documented and shared.”
The Island Soundscape Project members include N.B.Aldrich, Karen Beeftink, Adriana Cavalcanti, and Steve Norton. Additionally, collaborator Luke McKinney provided the videography for “5 Preserves”.
The gallery is located at Haystack’s Center for Community Programs (22 Church Street, Deer Isle) and will be open Wednesdays through Saturdays, from noon to 4 p.m. “5 Preserves” is presented in partnership by the Island Soundscape Project, Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Maine Coast Heritage Trust, and Island Heritage Trust.
Haystack connects people through craft. Haystack provides the freedom to engage with materials and develop new ideas in a supportive and inclusive community. Serving an ever-changing group of makers and thinkers, we are dedicated to working and learning alongside one another, while exploring the intersections of craft, art, and design in broad and expansive ways. Founded in 1950 as a research and studio program in the arts, Haystack is an international craft school located on the Atlantic Ocean in Deer Isle, Maine, offering one and two-week studio workshops to participants of all skill levels as well as the two-week Open Studio Residency program, tours, auctions, artist presentations, and shorter workshops for Maine residents and high school students. The award-winning campus was designed by noted American architect, Edward Larrabee Barnes, and opened in 1961 when the school relocated to Deer Isle from its original location in Montville, Maine.
The Island Heritage Trust is a non-profit private land trust dedicated to conservation that protects significant open space, scenic areas, wildlife habitats, natural resources, and historic and cultural features that offer public benefit and are essential to the character of the Deer Isle area. The IHT contributes to the well-being of the island community by conserving its distinctive landscapes and natural resources, maintaining public access to valued trails, shoreline, and islands, and by providing educational programming for all ages.
The Island Soundscape Project is a Maine-based arts research collaborative. Their work sits at the intersection of art, ecology, and society. The members are inspired by the idea that “through listening we can gain a unique understanding of the world we inhabit, one that can both complement and contrast with the world we see.”
Maine Coast Heritage Trust is a nonprofit land conservation organization focused on building coastal resilience in a changing climate, protecting plants and animals, increasing public access to land and water, and supporting Maine communities. Beginning on Mount Desert Island in 1970, where MCHT still serves as the local land trust, the multifaceted organization has become a leader in Maine’s nationally renowned land conservation efforts and maintains a growing network of more than 150 preserves along the coast, free and open to the public. MCHT also leads the 80-member Maine Land Trust Network to ensure that land conservation provides benefits to all Maine communities.
