Witnessing the world as it unfolds can be horrific and confounding. How can men with so much power be so weak? But bearing witness to their follies, not forgetting, not hiding, not ignoring, is a must if we are to tap into our own lives, our own agency, our own ability to shape and choose the world in which we want to live. 

To bear witness to the horrors and joy is to bear witness to life, and in fact affirms you are alive. 

The ongoing “Dilla Series” is an evolving group of work inspired by the late, legendary Hip-Hop producer J.Dilla and his contemporaries of sound. And in the spirit of Jazz, taking Soul, Funk, Jazz, and R&B, and re-creating these sounds into something familiar but new. But to make a scramble, you have to break a few eggs.

But that is life; iteration is the only thing that leads to evolutionary change. And only when we iterate enough do we notice that a hard break has occurred. 

Music, rhythm, dancing, life require continually letting go of control. These pieces are a collection of work, made not to a specific sound, but to sounds, loops, melodies, a letting go of emotions and contextual experiences into each piece. Life and experience are about the rhythmic layers, melodic flow, and beat breaks of life. When we stop trying to control our movements within it, letting the dance guide us, we let the needle drop. 

Sit, see how life moves you, and how you can loosen up your hold on the reins. 

Humans are messy, imperfect, emotionally driven animals—something we often forget that we are. This creates friction, a friction we have constantly worked as a species to rid ourselves of. A drive to go beyond working to survive, to make existence and life easier. While too much friction brings things to a halt, too little, and we fail to learn and grow, to engage with life, and, in doing so, forget what it means to be human. Only by embracing the mess, imperfections, and friction can we find our greatness. Not as individuals, or ideas of supremacy, but within an existence greater than ourselves, with each other, on the only home we’ve ever known.  These pieces explore that friction, in the good and bad, challenging us to embrace the enormity of life's existence.