Harvestworks

Elise Kermani is a sound media artist based out of New York City and Delmar, New York. She is the creator and artistic director of MiShinnah Productions, a company dedicated to promoting collaborative cross-genre artwork. Most recently, MiShinnah has produced three projects: JOCASTA, POE, and Iphigenia: Book of Change (the last of which is still in-progress). Inspired by magical realism, these pieces mix ancient stories with modern sensibilities. There is little interest in precise historical accuracy; the inspiration merely comes from old stories with universal themes. History, however, is essential: as the foundation for the times we now live in. Fascinated by origins, Kermani wishes to explore where things come from and how differing time periods might relate to one another. Kermani is primarily interested in adapting classic material and crafting her own unique, modernized interpretations; her projects consistently feature strong elements of music and dance. Particularly prevalent in the work is the idea of collage; not necessarily two-dimensional collage, but the layering of time itself, expanding a story back into the past and also forward into the present. Using varying levels of sound and fragmented visuals to comprise diverse, experimental performance pieces, Kermani aims to evoke a trance-like state—hypnotizing and even submerging a viewer within a strange new world. The music (much of which is composed by Kermani herself) is “post-modern,” emerging as a kaleidoscope of noise, a comingling of every kind of sound imaginable. Kermani’s passion is collaboration: with musicians, composers, performers, visual artists and dancers. Regularly arranging music for and overseeing other people’s work, Kermani is always looking for new collaborations, admiring the skills others have in their particular fields. So many things happen in each piece—adding to the collage, layered feeling—it’s almost too much to take in all at once. Because the work is non-linear, viewers should be given the choice to step back, divert their attention, and maybe not even watch the entire thing. Kermani does not consider herself a straight-up filmmaker, thus her pieces should not be surveyed as straight-forward movies; she is a visual and audio artist. She seeks to blur the lines between live performance and film, breaking the fourth wall, shattering the ritual, and pushing fantastical stories forth into reality. Kermani received a PhD in Media and Communications from the European Graduate School, and currently teaches Media Arts at SUNY/Empire State College. Her book “SonicSoma: Sound Body and the Origins” of the Alphabet is available at Amazon.com