The Future Made Clear

for vocal string quartet
commissioned by Invoke

The Future Made Clear (2017), scored for vocal string quartet, explores Southern California culture through fictitious depictions of store fronts and attractions one may encounter while driving down Hollywood Boulevard. The text is at once a description of the typical businesses and services sprinkled throughout the city and an underlying commentary on their intrinsic meaning within the self-referential and vapid culture of Hollywood itself.

The accompanying video is comprised of stock footage taken in 1946 of downtown Los Angeles. Intended to be used as a moving background illusion for driving scenes in films, the footage itself is fascinating in its candidness and hints at the forthcoming consumer culture revolution that enveloped America after the Second World War.