Real Fiction by Joel Love | Composer published on 2010-09-20T15:44:01Z Real Fiction was commissioned by the Aura Contemporary Music Ensemble and the Michell Center for the Arts, and used as a soundtrack for the public art project Inbound: Houston. It was premiered at the Moores Opera House, Houston, TX on November 16, 2009 under the direction of Jaemi Blair Loeb. Karyn Olivier on her public art project, Inbound: Houston This public art project will engage the general public and everyday commuters on their drive to work. Photographs of whatever exists directly behind each billboard will take the place of an advertisement. In a way, the project will unknowingly invite the commuter to a game of chance. If the weather conditions do not match those captured on the billboard photos, the art will appear as an interesting statement: Ubiquitous advertising will be replaced with representations of sky, bushes, buildings—whatever it is that would be seen if the billboard wasn’t there. When conditions are such that the weather and light match the photos on the billboard, the experience will be more surreal—a blurring of the line between natural and unnatural, real and fake, art and commerce. How will the commuter react to this potentially uncanny experience? And will commuters who repeatedly travel the same freeways become re-sensitized to the advertisements that they see as a result of this experience? One interest I have is in reengaging commuters with their surroundings. The uniqueness of these images will reassert the presence of the billboard, asking the viewer to notice and pay attention once again to what’s being ‘advertised.’ On Real Fiction: Real Fiction is piece that was inspired by the art project Inbound: Houston. The work explores the emotions that one may experience while passing the project’s billboards on Hwy. 59. In our correspondence, Karyn Olivier mentioned that she is striving to “awaken” Houstonians with her artwork. The opening of the piece describes this awakening through music. She also envisioned the piece to “comment on the commuter’s experience of rushing down the freeway as they catch an instance of ‘nature.’” In response, the second section of the piece paints a picture of riding in the start-and-stop traffic that is familiar to any Houston resident. In the slow section of piece, the music reflects the naturalistic side of the billboards through the sounds of trills and tremolandi, which give the impression of rustling trees. All of the previous elements are juxtaposed over one another at a point of culmination during the climax of the piece. – J.L. Genre classical Comment by Kenneth D. Stewart My favorite moment! 2010-09-20T23:51:43Z