Kicking off the Friday Afternoon Show is a recording of the May 9, 2026 performance by Robbie Wing and Erik DeLuca in the exhibition Useful Contaminants.

Useful Contaminants curated by Grace Harmer brings together artists Robbie Wing (Cherokee Nation) born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and currently living in Catskill, New York, and Erik DeLuca, based in Providence, Rhode Island, and currently working in Boston, Massachusetts, whose works amplify that which remains unseen or unheard, foregrounding the politics of attention through practices of critical listening.

Affixed to the gallery’s windows is Dirt Speaker Box, a newly commissioned installation by Wing. Dirt from the Mahicannituck River Valley is encased in an unsealed, transparent container with geophones—devices used to convert vibrations into electrical signals—buried beneath its surface. These devices generate a self-sustained system of feedback through the faint, imperceptible vibrations within the organic material. Emitting a subtle, continuous frequency, the site-specific work amplifies the otherwise inaudible sounds within the dirt. The steady hum is fragile, as it responds to the proximity and touch of visitors and is endlessly affected by its environmental conditions.

In response to Wing’s work, DeLuca has composed a rotating series of object-based scores for listening. The object/scores evolve alongside Wing’s shifting sonic environment—guiding the audience’s engagement with the sounds emanating from the installation. Through acts of reorientation, DeLuca’s scores propose a bodily engagement with the exhibition space, one that continually recalibrates perception and agency in relation to the visitors’ surroundings.

Useful Contaminants unfolds as an iterative and participatory process, positioning the audience not as passive observers but as catalysts within their environment. The installation and accompanying scores ask listeners to attune to the subtle frequencies that go unseen. Useful Contaminants is a living system in which the listener—the one who occupies space—holds agency through the choice of attention, whether consciously or not.

Support for artist travel is generously provided by Francesca Sonara (CCS Bard ’10).

Useful Contaminants is on view as part of Everything That Happens Will Happen Today at CCS Bard Hessel Museum of Art from April 4 to May 24, 2026. Everything That Happens Will Happen Today collects curatorial projects organized by the Class of 2026 at the Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College, in fulfillment of their M.A. in Curatorial Studies.

Robbie Wing is an artist, musician, and composer born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and a citizen of the Cherokee Nation. His practice focuses on composition, sonic sculpture, psychogeographies, and performance. His site-specific, multilayered compositions use reclaimed materials, field recordings, and found objects as instruments. Through sound, they expand the sense of time and bring hidden layers of place into the present.

Erik DeLuca is an artist-educator and experimental musician based in Providence, Rhode Island. He is drawn to spaces where boundaries between people, land, and technologies knot, jam, and open up. Through site-responsive performances, installations, and community projects, he uses sound and archives to explore how power shapes memory and communication.

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