About the exhibition

James Allister Sprang’s Rest Within the Wake is a multi-sensory exhibition that features textual elements, wall-based multimedia work, advanced spatial audio technologies, and an orchestral score written “60 feet beneath the surface of the Caribbean Sea.” Composed while Sprang was pursuing a scuba certification off the coast of Belize, the Rest Within the Wake score and exhibition recreate the experience of a deep-water descent and its physical, metaphysical, and historical associations.

Rooted in Christina Sharpe’s In the Wake, Elizabeth Alexander’s The Black Interior, and Ross Gay’s Inciting Joy, Rest Within the Wake weaves together modalities of Black life. Situated within Sharpe’s description of “being in the wake”—the space that continuously trails outward from the violence of the transatlantic slave trade, that alerts one to those ripple effects, that recognizes the layers of grief after death, and that, perhaps paradoxically, embraces joy. In Rest Within the Wake, Sprang invites audiences to “listen deeply while welcoming our bodies, our ancestors, our traumas, our pain, our longings, our visions, and our dreams.”

Best described as “orchestral spiritual jazz,” Rest Within the Wake is presented on the only 4DSound system in the country, an audio technology that physically locates sound within space. The choreographed score—along with Sprang’s writing and multimedia works—create connections between Diasporic timelines, the Black interior, and bodily transcendence in sensory poems. 

Vinyl Record

The Institute of Contemporary Art at Maine College of Art & Design (ICA at MECA&D) is proud to announce the record pressing of James Allister Sprang’s Rest Within the Wake. The limited-edition record is produced in conjunction with Sprang's exhibition Rest Within the Wake. A public record launch will be held on Friday, April 5 from 5:00 – 8:00pm at the ICA at MECA&D. Rest Within the Wake is also available in the ICA at MECA&D shop.

Sprang describes this pressing as an opportunity to turn away from the frantic pace of the modern world. Rest Within the Wake is a 50-minute piece meant to anchor sessions of somatic listening. Written 60 feet beneath the surface of the Caribbean Sea this work is intimately tethered to In the Wake, written by Christina Sharpe; The Black Interior, written by Elizabeth Alexander; and Inciting Joy, written by Ross Gay.

The score features several orchestra musicians, Mathis Picard on keys, Jake Goldbas on percussion, Starr Busby as lead vocalist supported by members from the Grammy-winning choir The Crossing. The genre is orchestral spiritual jazz.

Sprang welcomes you to find something comfortable to lie on/with while tuning into your bodies, your ancestors, your traumas, your pain, your longings, visions, and dreams.

“But Rest is more than just an impressive musical score rooted in cultural theory. It is a “sensory audiovisual poem for the spirit.” … It is something entirely, uniquely itself.”

—The Observer

The son of Caribbean immigrants, Sprang considers his relationship to Diasporic timelines while weaving together his multimedia work. This work is informed by the Black interior as well as radical and experimental traditions. Sprang’s work lives in gallery spaces, theater spaces and the space between the ears. In 2022, Sprang was awarded both the Pew Fellowship and the Knight Foundation Art + Tech Fellowship for his work with the only 4DSound system in America. James has exhibited at The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, The Brooklyn Museum, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts Museum, Storm King Art Center, The Kitchen, Baryshnikov Arts, The Public Theater, TATE Modern (UK), and MONOM (Germany), among others. His work has been reviewed in ArtForum, Art in America and Art Papers.

• Lead Artist: James Allister Sprang
• Musicians: Jake Goldbas (Percussion), Mathis Picard (Keys), Steven Bradshaw (Vocalist), S T A R R Busby (Lead Vocalist), Jonathan Clark (French Horn), Nina Cottman (Violin), Brent Edmondson (Double Bass), Chi Park Edmondson (Violin), Lauren Kelly (Vocalist), Sue Lerner (Cello), Maren Montalbano (Vocalist), Justin Moore (Trombone), Robert Skoniczin (Trumpet), Jason Stein (Vocalist), Daniel Taylor (Vocalist)
• Sheet Music Transcription Assistant: Benjamin Louis Brody
• Recording Engineer: Brendan McGeehan
• Sound Technician: Chris Gaskell
• Project Manager: Marin Day

About James Allister Sprang

The son of Caribbean immigrants, James Allister Sprang considers his relationship to Diasporic timelines while weaving together his multimedia work, to create sensory poems for the spirit. This work is informed by the Black interior as well as radical and experimental traditions. Sprang’s work lives in gallery spaces, theater spaces, and the space between the ears. In 2022, Sprang was awarded both the Pew Fellowship and the Knight Foundation Art + Tech Fellowship for his work with the only 4DSound system in America.

A graduate of the Cooper Union (BFA) and the University of Pennsylvania (MFA), Sprang has completed numerous residencies domestically and internationally, including the Baryshnikov Arts Center and The Kitchen in New York. Sprang has also shown and/or performed at The Brooklyn Museum, TATE Museum, PAFA Museum, The Aldrich Museum, The Kitchen, Storm King Art Center, The Public Theater, The Margulies Collection, David Nolan Gallery, The Apollo Theater, Pioneer Works, On The Boards, Northwest Film Forum, Knockdown Center and The Painted Bride Art Center.