(~) Echo
Phase One (∼)
Rebeca Bollinger in collaboration with Gus Tomizuka
(~) Echo is a site-responsive installation by artist Rebeca Bollinger. A trio of suspended bronze sculptures - cast from impressions of surfaces like tree bark, sand, and rocks found in the Agua Caliente Wash - are paired with gold-mirrored planes in the shape of circles, rectangles, and squares. Through integrated lighting, these compositions cast cinematic shadows and cause shifting reflections around the gallery, evoking the glowing presence of an abstract sun.
In dialogue with Bollinger's installation, Gus Tomizuka's Quintet for samples of bronze sculptures gives voice to Bollinger's forms by processing recordings of the sculptures into discrete, elastic waveforms. These are then interpreted indefinitely in an evolving, algorithmic score with a computer processor acting as "conductor" to the synthetic choir, as well as incorporating visitor's movements in the space into the piece.
The performance offers a further translation of this ongoing collaboration via sound and light responses within the installation. The three performers mix dimensions of sound, blending the direct percussive qualities of the sculptures with their processed counterparts and shifting between synthetic and acoustic instruments to integrate human and computational improvisers.
Program with example pages from the composition.
Exhibition
(∼) Echo ( ) at MOCA Tucson is a site-responsive installation by artist Rebeca Bollinger, who explores the interplay between site, sculpture, and sound to create an evolving environment. A trio of suspended bronze sculptures, spatialized audio works, and mirrored assemblages—and their shifting reflections—enliven the gallery space, positioning both the site and the visitor as active participants in shaping the environment.
Subtle interventions by Bollinger softly echo the idiosyncrasies of the gallery’s architecture while mirrored surfaces alter and multiply the objects and surrounding space. As visitors move through the installation, their presence animates the work: reflections shift, shadows are cast, and bronze sculptures gently sway.
(∼) Echo ( ) unfolds in two distinct phases, each shaped by a unique collaboration, opening with composer Gus Tomizuka, and closing with artist and musician Patricio Coronado. By bringing processes from live performance into the museum, the artists establish landscapes of translations and mutual relations that create cyclical rhythms over time.
Organized by Alexis Wilkinson, Curator. Image Credit: MOCA Tucson, 2025. Photography by Julius Schlosburg