Seth Parker Woods & Spencer Topel: Iced Bodies

Copresented with Weisman Art Museum
Sat, Jan 28, 2:30-4:30 pm
Weisman Art Museum

An iconic 1970s Fluxus performance art piece Ice Music is reimagined in cellist Seth Parker Woods’ and composer Spencer Topel’s ICED BODIES. An ice cello dyed black and embedded with electronics is played and translated into sound, paying tribute to an avant-garde past while reflecting on overlooked and undocumented cases of mental disability within underrepresented populations. The inherent vulnerability of a melting ice sculpture—with its eventual destruction—serves as an ode to these struggling minds, and bruised, tattered, and broken bodies on display. Read more about the project in an interview by deVon Russell Gray that was conducted as part of The Great Northern 2021.

Topel | Woods is an artist collective creating visual art, music, installation and experimental media. Their work prompts audiences and visitors to consider the role of art in relation to society, technology, and identity. Formed in 2017 by Spencer Topel and Seth Parker Woods, Topel & Woods' first major project was ICED BODIES: Ice Music for Chicago at The Arts Club of Chicago. Subsequently, they presented ICED BODIES at the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival in 2019. They continue to develop new work addressing society, culture, and race in performance and installation projects.