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Molly Joyce, an artist motivated by and through and because of disability, an artist with “serene power” (The New York Times)—one of the “most versatile, prolific, and intriguing composers working under the vast new-music dome” (The Washington Post)—releases her new work, Perspective, on New Amsterdam Records. At the age of seven, Joyce’s left hand was nearly amputated in a car accident. After two decades of rejecting the label, Joyce now proudly identifies as disabled, using her impaired left hand to play her vintage toy organ, an instrument seemingly custom-built for her impairment, with “superb effect” (The Wire). On Perspective, Joyce moves beyond her own disability to highlight voices of the wider disabled community—both literally and figuratively.
“Perspective is an ongoing project featuring disabled participants who respond to what access, care, interdependence, and more means to them,” says Joyce. “Judith Heumann, the legendary disability activist known for her role in the Academy Award-nominated documentary Crip Camp and the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), once asked me why I refer to my impaired left hand as ‘weak.’ This question struck me personally and almost politically, as it became clear that I was categorizing my disability within narrow definitions of what weakness can and should be.”
Heumann’s question inspired Perspective, Joyce’s multidisciplinary work featuring 47 disabled interviewees, worldwide, whose impairments range from physical to visual to intellectual to auditory, and whose backgrounds span race, class, gender, religion, and sexuality—veterans, activists, academics, pageant models, and others. On Perspective, Joyce asks her disability community numerous questions: “What is weakness for you?” “What is access for you?” and other queries related to their disabilities.
“I wondered if rethinking ‘weakness’ might foster a broader understanding of the term, of related terms, and of terms central to disability culture,” says Joyce. “The aim was to highlight the diversity and plurality of the disability community and, hopefully, reframe collective perceptions about disability.” The composer recorded the disabled interviewees’ responses and underscored the audio with her voice and vintage toy organ. But unlike most albums, Perspective is more than an aural experience. In an effort to be all-inclusive, to highlight multisensory accessibility, the new piece is designed to be listened to alongside a series of open-caption videos.
Before Perspective, Joyce’s work explored her relationship with disability, though she’d been longing to widen her focus, to engage her community. “For a long time, I wondered how to authentically highlight voices and viewpoints of the disability community, an incredibly diverse yet unified identity, and experience,” says Molly Joyce. “I hope Perspective offers singular insights into these outlooks by valuing the disabled experience as one all can learn from and engage with.”
credits
released October 28, 2022
Molly Joyce, composer and performer
Michael Hammond, producer, mixing engineer, mastering engineer
Halcyon Arts Lab, DC iteration commissioner
Surel's Place, Idaho iteration commissioner
Open Arms Dance Project, Idaho iteration producer and collaborator
Dr. Tom von Sternberg and Eve Parker, Minnesota iteration commissioners
The Great Northern Festival, Minnesota iteration producer
Metropolis Ensemble, Assistant Producer
Sandy Guttman, Project Curator
Perspective was produced with residencies at Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, Halcyon Arts Lab, and Surel's Place.
Perspective was developed with presentations at Americans for the Arts, Ars Nova, Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, Gaudeamus Muziekweek, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, The Momentary, National Sawdust, and The Peace Studio.
Special thanks to: Rachel Adams, Megan Brandel, Nicole Dowd, Jodi Eichelberger, Marne Elmore, Greg Hahn, Judi and Ed Joyce, Michael Kaufmann, Cynthia Post Hunt, Emma Saperstein, Ben Swartz, and Aisha White.
First Iteration // Halcyon Arts Lab in Washington, DC
Day Al-Mohamed
Sabrina Epstein
JJJJJerome Ellis
Shannon Finnegan
Matthew Flanagan
David Furukawa
Jerron Herman
Nicole Kelly
Miso Kwak
Lachi
Robert McRuer
Michael Marceau
Diego Mariscal
Robin Marquis
Yoshi Nakamura
Adam Roberge
Tom Shakespeare
Stefan Sunandan Honisch
Peter Wehrli
Erin Weierbach
Alice Wong
Second Iteration // Open Arms Dance Project and Surel’s Place in Boise, ID
Kristen Beaver
Megan Brandel
Gail C. Hawkins
Hava Fisherman
Heather Marie
Cade Willes *interviewed with grandmother Kay Willis
Third Iteration // The Great Northern Festival in Twin Cities, MN
Katie De Leo
Richard Grimm
Arbdella Hudson
Katrina Jirik
Kevin Kling
Amoke Kubat
Gaelynn Lea
Chris Martin
Nicole Mary Milligan
Leslye Orr
Atlas O. Phoenix
Donna Ray
Gabriel Rodreick
Danny Roherty
Matthew Sanford
Andy Slater
Nathan R. Stenberg
Poppy Jean Sundquist
Mai Thor
Debbie Towey
Album cover image description: A black square with a grey/noise triangle facing to the right. Below the triangle is text that reads “Perspective” and “Molly Joyce.”
Track sound descriptions:
Access - A bed of clustery organ drones, gradually unfolding and changing. Near the end a high repeated cluster of pitches perpetually repeats and drives towards a propulsion for a shift in perspective on what access can and should be.
Care - Oscillating high organ notes begin, resembling a fast medical monitor. A female voice quickly joins with a repeated, ascending melodic phrase. This gradually breaks down and joins the organ pulses, adding dissonance and tension. Midway through lower organ chords enter and liberate the track to less tension.
Control - Strong repetition of a low, bass drum-like club beat. High, tick-tock like pulses join the club beat, and near the end all becomes more and more distorted, essentially losing control.
Weakness - High organ drone begins track, with singing female voice gradually entering, meandering throughout and searching for grounding.
Strength - Distorted, pulsing vocal humming oscillate between consonance and dissonance, almost like a muted and covered sound. Near the end increases in intensity with added delays and distortion, with a high vocal line overtaking in power and context.
Cure - Fantastical, arpeggiated high organ figure begins the track, followed by entrance of a low, distorted and forceful bass organ line. Near the very end a high vocal cluster enters, driving the track to the end.
Interdependence - High repeated organ arpeggios begin with a low fan noise and high vocal clusters oscillating beneath, setting up a monotonous yet possible feeling. Midway through a low vocal line enters, grounding the material.
Assumption - A sequence of minor, sad organ chords accompanying an echo-like, ascending vocal line.
Resilience: Pulsing chords relentlessly push forward, eventually leading to an opening bass note while high vocals oscillate above them.
Isolation: Repetitive organ lines glide above the interviewee voices, with occasional bass/kick drum hits.
Connection: Longing female voices meanders throughout, above a low, slowly-moving organ drone.
Darkness: Consistent harmonies underlay interviewee voices, with textures and layers gradually entering and leaving around them.
What a remarkable album this is. Elements of Glass and Reich with deftly disturbing elements of Penderecki, but with the sonority of the saxophone taking these elements into startling new places.
The quality of the playing is astounding, in that the connection between the players is so intuitive it is as though it's the work of one mind. Beauty, hope, fear and chaos endlessly revolving.
This swirling, heady brew is definitely one of my albums of year. Michael Mueller
Very complex neo-classical music. This has lots of layers to it, and sounds at times discordant, but I like it more with each listen. This band requires some patience, but I think you get rewarded for that patience. Found in Ed Buckley's collection. Roy Meerkamper
Istanbul sound artist and industrial designer Kunsf transforms everyday objects into granular synthesis on this contemplative new LP. Bandcamp New & Notable Mar 8, 2022
