Drum Grid
2023
Artist Raven Chacon
Curator Risa Puleo
Address
3100 S Jefferson Ave
St. Louis, MO
Site Description
Benton Park was created by City Ordinance in 1866. One of the principal attractions is an artificial lake and rustic bridge. In recent years, the park has been completely remodeled and landscaped with the City’s neighborhood rehabilitation funds, as part of the Cherokee Pilot Rehabilitation Area. Benton Park is home to a lake, a circular fountain, a Friedrich Hecker monument, tennis courts, a playground, and a pavilion. This project was on the tallest hill in the park, located near the Southeastern corner of the park.
Artwork Details
About the Artwork
Raven Chacon’s Drum Grid was a composition for numerous drummers, each positioned on a street corner throughout the Benton Park neighborhood. Beginning with a single drum hit from one player, subsequent drummers imitated the sound of the previous drummer down the block, the gesture evolving as it traveled around the neighborhood. Over time, the drummers misinterpreted their cues and source material, therefore adding new gestures to the original musical action, as nearby buildings and houses created more false echoes and polyphony. By performing Drum Grid, a community has agency to change the landscape of their neighborhood, activating potential questions and new generative urgencies.
This was a moving composition through the Benton Park neighborhood. Audience members moved with it around the park.
