Deity of the Circle is an installation and performance for three voices, clarinet, and electronics co-created by Armond Dorsey, Bonita Oliver, and Eli Berman.
Worship practices from African and Jewish diasporas inform the design of unique visual and musical storytelling objects made of metal, wood, fabric, microphones, speakers, and electrical circuits. A composite sound sculpture made of PVC and EMT pipes serves as an installation piece for the exhibit. In April 2025, the artists will assemble this composite sculpture live during a 40-minute performance. They will attach handheld and wearable components of the sculpture to its base, placed at the center of the gallery, before playing the sculpture as a communal instrument. According to the trio, “Through our exhibition and performance, we hybridize new worship rituals for collectively grieving our historical traumas while illuminating the multidimensionality and timelessness of our human desire to connect with the past and future through cyclical time.”