I know. I know. It’s getting redundant. But when artists and dreamers get together, stuff happens. The David Biedenbender / Robert Fanning duo is at it again! I guess we never learn.
David’s recently composed, incredible 7-movement piece “in a field of stars” was inspired by my poem “Infinity Room,” and has been recorded for a CD called “Intersections” that launches next Friday on Ravello Records, performed by Khemia Ensemble.
The first poem in my new manuscript, “Infinity Room” explores self-identity, temporality, and impermanence and was inspired by Yayoi Kusama’s incredible Infinity Rooms and the Radiohead song/video “Daydreaming.”
In his haunting, gorgeous composition commissioned by the Khemia Ensemble which premiered at the University of Arkansas in September, 2021, Biedenbender—another Radiohead fan—alludes to Radiohead with subtle, almost ghostly nods throughout “in a field of stars.” (Radiohead fans will hear the notes folded into David’s composition.)
Need a preview? Check out this fantastic Khemia Ensemble performance of “in a field of stars” at Michigan State University.
In January, 2023 David and I will travel to Crystal Bridges Museum of Art, where we will both discuss the poem and the musical collaboration and where “in a field of stars” will be performed in one of Yayoi Kusama’s mirrored rooms.
What is better than art in conversation? Yayoi Kusama and Radiohead (and Paul Thomas Anderson’s video of “Daydreaming”) spark my poem, which then spark’s David Biedenbender’s composition—and the flames rise.
This is what making fire is all about.
ROBERT FANNING: POET 