In 1983, a team of researchers with the Japanese Antarctic Research program conducted an experiment freezing tardigrades, a microscopic animal that is known for their unearthly resilience. A frequent inhabitant of moist moss, the team froze the microscopic creatures in a frozen sample of moss at -20 C for 30 years and 6 months. In 2014, a separate team defrosted the tardigrades, and over the course of two weeks, the animals very gradually regained control of their limbs, and a few even went on to reproduce successfully.
During this 30 year span, the tardigrades entered “cryptobiosis,” a “physiological state in which metabolic activity is reduced to 0.01% of what is normal”.
With fixed media that explores the frequency spectrum below 30 hz and above 7000 hz inside the bass clarinet multiphonics, cryptobiosis examines sounds that are more felt than heard, volatility, purity vs. impurity, and the ambiguity of inanimate vs being.

for amplified baritone voice, bass clarinet, and electronics 
Performed by Raphael Sacks and Oran Etkin 
National Sawdust, March 2021 
Hildegard Commission Concert

cryptobiosis

In considering a work for solo flute, I was drawn to the interaction between metal and air. This led to a further fixation with pollution; and the idea of creating conversation between air masses, and the “dirt” inside of them. Considering air’s dense chemical makeup, I was curious to research microscopic happenings inside of mass.
The decision to create a “microphone controller” line stems from an interest to converse directly with air. Within the airstream, the microphone controller sculpts angles inside the mass; shifting the “pollution,” creating conflict and interactions.

Sarah Steranka, flute

pollutant, a miniature for flute, airstream, and microphone controller

Isabel Gleicher, flute 
Lauren Siess, mic controller

Pollutant

for Arditti Quartet
Dresden, Germany April 2023

"thawed wax, destabilized...i dream of ripe red sacks," for Arditti Quartet

MDR Sinfonieorchester
Michael Wendeberg, conductor
Leipzig, Germany April 2024

fermented wax, implosive sacks stain flowers for Orchestra

for ensemble mosaik
Khachatur Kanajan, violin
Mathis Mayr, cello
Alexey Potapov, electric guitar 
Adam Weisman, percussion
Christian Vogel, clarinets 


"in disoriented gardens, invasive wax eats flowers" for ensemble takes place within an imagined ecosystem, whose disoriented internal logic functions in a dream-like, irrational manner, creating an environment where events grow to absurd proportions, creating imbalanced, juxtaposed situations.
Contradiction is welcome and necessary to the well-being of this environment. Decaying material interacts with ripeness, mechanisms interact with organic matter. Interaction between seemingly contradictory material carves paves the way for strangeness, ambiguity, and humor.
Throughout the work, listeners zoom in on this environment and out again, as it grows and changes. At times, they witness the entire environment functioning in equilibrium, and at other moments, the ungainly growth of a singular being. In imagining this errant ecosystem, I reflect on the irrationality and playfulness of the environment that surrounds us.
- Lauren Siess

artwork - "Asparagus," Suzan Pitt

in disoriented gardens, invasive wax eats flowers - for ensemble mosaik

“pine” is a meditation on sound and introspection.  Inspired by the climate in the Pacific Northwest, “pine” aims to capture the eerie, dense, but comforting atmosphere of this environment. Created to be performed by any instrument, use this piece as a physical/sonic exploration; allowing oneself to create soft sounds in an intimate and uniquely personal manner.

for any instrument, natural objects, and live electronics
By Lauren Siess
Carlos Aguilar, bass flute

pine

(morning haze following a damp evening)

for solo viola
By Lauren Siess
Lauren Siess, viola

an experiment with 1/16th size violins, electric guitar, and fishing line

////calcification///crystallization//decay/

carlos aguilar, bass flute
aaron wolff, cello
lauren siess, waterphone and electronics

cephalopoda

drew steele and lauren siess, electric basses and vibrators

lauren siess

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