Spiraling upward nearly 65 feet, composer and sound designer Ben Frost’s newly commissioned sound installation for Enduring Amazon is simultaneously a sculpture, sound gear, a musical instrument, and a stage set. Frost utilizes a linear array of speakers, most familiar as pieces of concert equipment typically suspended high at stage right and left in bowing arcs, but he adds a literal twist. By introducing a simple offsetting rotation between each speaker, the trapezoidal units transform into something completely different. The subtle twisting gesture becomes a torque spiraling out in an animalistic helix: part DNA, part spinal vertebrae, part furled coil of pure lifeforce.

Known for compositions that make sound almost tangible, including thumping helicopter blades and geo-locating bat calls, Frost created an original score for this work, along with the musical accompaniment for The Prophecy of Butterflies, in collaboration with its artists Susannah Sayler and Edward Morris (Sayler/Morris), on view in a neighboring gallery. He also served as the composer and sound designer for Richard Mosse’s film Broken Spectre, also on view nearby, drawing heavily from field recordings he gathered from the Amazon. A noted composer for film and TV, Frost’s credits include Raised by Wolves, Dark, and Sleeping Beauty.