Photo credit: Karjaka
ABOUT Handful of smoke
Handful of Smoke is composer/performer duo Ellen McSweeney and Sam Scranton. We develop work together over long periods of sonic experimentation together: a process which constantly creates new sounds, new text, new combinations of elements, and new techniques for amplified tabletop violin and found object percussion. In performance, we face off at a low ceremonial table, highly attuned to each other’s every movement. The violin -- an easy symbol of refinement and the Classical canon -- is laid flat on the table, reduced to its most basic physical elements, and played with homemade tools ranging from metal screws to rubber hammers. The table, covered with wood, metal, and stone, becomes an instrument in itself, played by four highly integrated hands.
Handful of Smoke has made performed at New Music Gathering, Nief Norf, Omaha Under the Radar, Flak performance series at Intuit Gallery, New Music at the Green Mill, and Comfort Station on a series curated by Parlour Tapes+.