I was drawn to Italo Calvino’s description in From The Opaque of the spaces between different houses and the interior spaces within a house, as well as the navigation between one self and the surrounding objects. This tracking of environment in relation to various points in space and time reminded me of La Dispute’s album “Rooms of The House”. 

 

The album begins with the moment of destruction of the West Michigan tornado in April 1956, and then spans out to two characters in different time frames and different locations relating to the destruction. It navigates the shared history between those characters through exploring the rooms in their house; the spaces, items, and imagery that evoke feelings and historical meaning to them. 

 

Through listening to the album, I jotted down the different colors that described each individual song. Then, I found images people took of their houses after the Michigan tornadoes struck in 1956, and by combining these two elements, I want to express and map the emotions and relationships between the two characters and their house through time. 

 

The arrangement of the pieces sought to evoke the feeling of passing by personal pictures and paintings hanging in the hallway of a house, as well as the progression of music and time.