rachel epperly
composer-performer / improviser / performance artist
This song marks the beginning of my exploration of the intersection of guilt and comfort involved with consumption in the age of climate crisis. The song poses a series of questions to all the 'plastic idols' I've collected over the years, which once gave me joy but now fill me with guilt, knowing that these objects will never decomppose. I ask the idols if it's possible for me to turn them into trees, to turn them into seeds, to undo them somehow. The song began as a cover of the lullaby "Hush, Little Baby."
This song is a part of my series in progress PORCH SONGS.
This song marks the beginning of my exploration of the intersection of guilt and comfort involved with consumption in the age of climate crisis. The song poses a series of questions to all the 'plastic idols' I've collected over the years, which once gave me joy but now fill me with guilt, knowing that these objects will never decomppose. I ask the idols if it's possible for me to turn them into trees, to turn them into seeds, to undo them somehow. The song began as a cover of the lullaby "Hush, Little Baby."
This song is a part of my series in progress PORCH SONGS.
ABOUT
"Girly!" is a performance art composition/a fake ad for a Real Girl Barbie. Borrowing from the musical tropes of 90s Barbie ads, the Real Girl Barbie (myself) oscillates between identifying with the outdated norms she is programmed to sell (ditching school for the mall, being bad at math, having her life fulfilled by Ken) and feeling discomfort towards them. Eventually, she malfunctions, inhabiting these antiquated norms to a dysfunctional and disturbing degree.
Performed in 2017 at So Percussion Summer Institute and at the Midwest Composers' Conference.