In March 2020, Marla Hlady + Christof Migone installed Swan Song and the Sampler editions at the gallery, ready to celebrate the yield of their Glenfiddich Residency. The day of the scheduled opening, lockdown went into effect. The gallery is thrilled to raise a glass to this work again, in a significantly better moment, to now possible fanfare.

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Swan Song consists of two stills from the Balvenie Distillery that were retired on June 28, 2019 after serving for 12 years. The swan neck portions of the stills were then cut and, because their shape resembles the horn of a gramophone, Swan Song uses them as resonators for sound. Through each swan neck we play recordings we made throughout the distillery: Robbie Dhu Spring cairn where the water first enters the Glennfidich property, the cooperage floor where casks are being repaired, vats were barley goes through the various stages of germination, bottling floor, a choir made up of staff working at William Grant & Sons (which houses Balvenie and Glenfiddich distilleries). Each member of the choir volunteered to contribute two short voice recordings, one the highest pitched sound they could produce, and one the lowest. They were asked to hold the sound for as long as possible. The recordings are triggered by devices that mash them up. They are treated kinetically. They are distilled acoustically. They are mangled mechanically.

Sampler is a series of objects and materials that relate to our time at the distillery, all with a playful touch and some, with an aural bent. Sample bottles, flask, copper, anthracite, earplugs, and more, all behaving oddly. They are assembled in ways that bend their usual role. Some are solo, others are paired. Most are inert, one spins, another sounds. They are absurdist tests. They cannot be proven or disproven. They teeter, they unfold, they puzzle.

– Marla Hlady & Christof Migone