Passage
Artist book
11”h x 21”w

Margo Klass

created in response to Silent Succession
composed by Jesse Budel

This piece represents a time when the apocalyptic vision of a ravaged Denali Park in Jesse Budel’s composition is fulfilled.  A series of niches, as in chapels of a cathedral, honor all that was lost to time and climate change.  Majestic mountains, rivers, glaciers and permafrost, the land’s mineral resources, the boreal forest, its flora and fauna – are all symbolically represented as icons to be remembered, honored, even venerated. 
The interpretive markings on the book’s interior panels were made as visual responses while listening to Budel’s musical score. They reflect Silent Succession’s movements and their range of tempos, starting slowly with silent wind and flowing rivers and gradually building to the climax of nature’s chaotic collapse. In my interpretation, Silent Succession’s conclusion, delicate sound fading into the distance, intimates the possibility of a hopeful, new beginning.