Shin Yu Pai – Heirloom

2015 Jack Straw Artist Support Program artist Shin Yu Pai produced this recording as part of her project HEIRLOOM, a site-specific public art project that involves printing language on antique apples in Piper’s Orchard in Carkeek Park, Seattle. Using vinyl stencils and the light of the sun, words are burned into the peels of ripening apples. The words on the apples represent the titles of individual sections from a long poem written in the form of an abecadarian, or alphabet poem, that is a poetic visitor’s guide to the orchard. This recording mixes a studio reading with ambient field recordings captured in the orchard throughout the seasons. This project was supported, in part, by an award from 4Culture, funding from Seattle Office of Arts and Culture, and The Awesome Foundation.