Green Memories 

Part of the four-day La Jolla Playhouse WOW Festival, the Green Memories installation is an immersive experience that blends evocative real and algorithmically generated visuals and music, creating a sad yet hopeful meditation on the fragile relationship between humanity and nature.

A collaborative work by Shahrokh Yadegari and Memo Akten, Green Memories is composed of re-envisioned older pieces that, together, find a new life. Much of the visual and musical material was created separately years ago, but pieces are now edited, remixed and remastered to come together harmoniously — complementing each other while maintaining their own identity and autonomy. The reimagined pieces are Yadegari: Green Memories (2008), Akten:: Wave 2.0: Terra (2023), Waves (2104) and Reincarnation (2009).

The piece is inspired by the poetry of Forough Farrokhzad, who has been hailed as one of the most important contemporary poets of Iran.  Farrokhzad’s writing is revered for her depth of feeling and poignant philosophical approach toward the social and political issues of her time. In many of her poems written in the 1950s, such as I Pity the Garden (Green Memories) [below], Earthly Verses and Only Sound Remains, Farrokhzad expresses profound personal thoughts and feelings in simple words. In doing so, she foresees the future of our social, political and natural ecologies.  Apparently written from a small patch of ground in her home, what she saw in I Pity the Garden has now become a global problem.

Hours

Thu, Apr 24: 4 – 7 p.m.
Fri, Apr 25: 4 – 7 p.m.
Sat, Apr 26: 11 a.m. – 2 p.m., 3 p.m. – 6 p.m.
Sun, Apr 27: 11 a.m. – 2 p.m., 2:30 p.m. – 5 p.m.

Please arrive on the hour or half hour to be let in or sign up for the next showing. This project includes flashing visuals and immersive sound indoors. This is a 25-minute experience for 8-10 people at a time. Recommended for 8+. Seating is on the floor. No R.S.V.P. required.

Artists

Created by Shahrokh Yadegari and Memo Akten
Visuals: Memo Akten
Vocals: Azam Ali
Violin: Keyavash Nourai
Composition, electronics and direction: Shahrokh Yadegari

Shahrokh Yadegari is an Iranian-American composer, sound artist, and researcher known for his work in interactive music, live electronic performance and interdisciplinary collaborations. With a background in electrical engineering and music, he explores the intersection of technology and artistic expression. Yadegari has collaborated with artists such as Peter Sellars, Robert Woodruff, Ann Hamilton, Christine Brewer and Gabor Tompa. He is currently a faculty member in the Department of Music at UC San Diego and the Associate Director of the Qualcomm Institute, where he directs the Sonic Arts Research and Development group.

Memo Akten is a multi-disciplinary artist, musician, and researcher investigating the intricacies of human-machine entanglements. His work explores perception and states of consciousness, and the tensions between ecology, technology, science and spirituality. He writes code and uses algorithmic / data-driven design and aesthetics to create moving images, sounds, large-scale responsive installations and performances. He holds a PhD from Goldsmiths University of London, specializing in artistic and creative applications of Artificial Intelligence, and he is currently Assistant Professor at UC San Diego. Akten has received numerous awards including the Prix Ars Electronica Golden Nica.

Poetry:

I pity the Garden by Forough Farrokhzad
published in 1965 after her death

No one thinks of the flowers

No one thinks of the fish

No one wants to believe

that the garden is dying

its heart swollen under the sun

its mind draining of green memories

slowly

slowly

and its senses rotting in seclusion

Our garden is lonely.

Yawning … Waiting

for an offering from an unknown rain cloud

Our garden is lonely

Our pond is empty.

I afraid of the age that has lost its heart

I am frightened

by the thought of so many futile hands

by the image of so many estranged faces

I think that the garden can be saved in a hospital

I think

I think

And the garden’s heart is swollen under the sun

And its mind is slowly draining of green memories

Other WOW Festival events in and around Atkinson Hall include The Society of Historic Sonic Happenings, Artists Everywhere, Bring Back the Happening and How to Put on a Sock.