In “The Response: Echoes Beneath the Rain,” artist and composer Olive Toran charted a sonic geography of weather and witness—where storms were not just events, but entities. There, the rain and wind were the great observers, and we were in dialogue with them
This immersive sonic installation and exhibit was curated by Olive in collaboration with Rainproof NYC and Rebuild by Design. It unfolded in three continuous movements—Before, During, and After the Storm—looped to reflect the rhythms of nature and collective response. Original compositions by Olive Toran, Natie, and Brittany Harris blended with field recordings of storms and waterways captured by Olive Toran, layered with the voices and memories of the Rainproof NYC community.
As visitors moved through the space—viewing images of birds before the storm, witnessing Rainproof NYC communities in action, and engaging in a speculative activity on repair—they also visited Rainproof groups tabling their work. The soundscape shifted: ambient tones swelled into turbulence, voices emerged and receded, and silence became its own kind of presence. It was a space of listening—not only to one another, but to the elements themselves.
Echoes Beneath the Rain invited us to hear storms not only as forces, but as witnesses—asking what we might learn when we treated weather as a partner, not just a condition.
The water was rising. So was our response.
ensemble 3 composers/singers, 4 instruments (electric guitar, violin, cello, bass, traditional instruments (shakers, rain stick, and kalimba)
duration 13 minutes total
written and composed June- July 2025
premiere July 17, 2025 The Response: Echoes Beneath the Rain
Images from The Response: Echoes Beneath the Rain July 17, 2025 © Judy Huynh
After The Storm Art German-Togolese artist, currently based in New York. Marie’s work explores texture, emotion, and colored fluidity through abstract forms – capturing fleeting moods, and intuitive movement. Marie’s acrylic painting reflects the aftermath of a flood – a landscape marked by destruction and disarray. Through layered textures and contrasting colors, it captures the way materials are forced together by rising water, leaving behind a dense, unsettling trace of what was once whole. Nach dem Sturm, Acrylic painting by Marie Amoyi