ABOUT THE WORK
Inspired by the intensity and depth of the color in Sol LeWitt’s prints together with the words of poet Sylvia Plath, Johnson has created a new cycle of songs, one of which provides the basis for this installation.
How frail the human heart must be a mirrored pool of thought so deep and tremulous an instrument of glass that it can either sing, or weep.
-Sylvia Plath, “I Thought I Could Not Be Hurt,” 1947
Working from these suggestive lines, from phrases found in Plath’s journals, and with thoughts of her famous novel, The Bell Jar, (published 50 years ago just a month before Plath committed suicide in February of 1963), Johnson has built an actual “instrument of glass,” a group of seven bell jars that are meant to be touched and played by visitors to the gallery.
“What we hear of Johnson’s composition for Glass Heart is entirely dependent upon our own physical interaction with the installation, whether we actively touch the bell jars or patiently wait to capture the ethereal sounds as they play out, “ says curator Elaine Mehalakes. “The ringing of the glass itself is evidence of our own presence in the room and contribution to the piece. By deftly incorporating fragments of Plath’s poetry, rounded out with phrases from her husband Ted Hughes’ poem “Last Letter,” haunting vocals, and the experience of sound that effects the visitor in unexpected ways, Glass Heart evokes the unpredictability and uncontrollability of memory. Johnson’s “…bell jars, repurposed as a choir of singing glass hearts,” powerfully suggest the potential resonance of human emotion, at its most communal and empathic.”

According to Johnson, “My work often draws from disparate, fragmentary sources, and involves a long process of stitching together seemingly unrelated materials into an emotional narrative. I can only attribute this to my experience of synesthesia: the texture of glass will evoke a Lydian harmony, which in turn will evoke luminous, liquid shades of blue and red, which in turn will remind me of blood flowing through a human heart, which will then circle me back to the exquisite emotional landscape of Sylvia Plath’s poetry. When I discovered Plath’s poem “I Thought I Could Not Be Hurt,” everything was suddenly there: images of glass and of hearts, and in her language, all of the rich colors so vividly displayed in Sol LeWitt’s etchings. My response in turn is an audio-visual network of the sounds and colors I hear in her words, infused with my own imperfect memories and nameless emotions.”
The music for Glass Heart is performed by faculty members Eliko Akahori, synthesizer; David Russell, cello; Jenny Tang, piano; and Jenny Olivia Johnson, percussion/electronics; with guest artist P. Lucy McVeigh, soprano. The piece includes digital audio processing of all instruments with the software applications Ableton Live and Logic Pro, a two-screen video feed, and a sound sculpture of six illuminated, amplified bell jars.
Curated by Elaine Mehalakes, Kemper Curator of Academic Programs, Glass Heart (bells for Sylvia Plath) is generously supported by The Mary Tebbetts Wolfe ’54 Program Fund.

ABOUT THE COMPOSER/ARTIST
Jenny Olivia Johnson (b. 1978, Santa Monica, CA) is Assistant Professor of Music Composition and Theory at Wellesley College. Her music, which has been hailed as “gorgeous, ominous, and hypnotic” by the Boston Globe, and “iridescent, shimmering, and evocative” by Time Out New York, explores themes of musical synesthesia, acoustic memory, and childhood trauma, and ranges from compressed electronic operas and epic pop songs to lacy, abstract chamber works and multi-media meditations using amplified instruments and video.
She has collaborated with such ensembles as BMOP (Boston Modern Orchestra Project), ICE (International Contemporary Ensemble), the Asko|Schoenberg Ensemble, Bang on a Can, the Arditti Quartet, and New York City Opera, who performed two of her short operas at their VOX Contemporary Opera festivals in 2006 and 2007. This is her first installation and first museum commission. For more information, visit www.jennyoliviajohnson.com.

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