Dumbarton Oaks

Today we visited Dumbarton Oaks, where a selection of mosaic fragments from Antioch make up the floors of the gallery spaces. This is to say that the mosaics are installed as they would have been in antiquity and they function as walkable floors. This is a field trip that we'd originally planned to take in Phase I (Spring 2020), but could not due to the pandemic shutdown, so it was particularly special to be able to make this trip in Phase II. While seeing, touching, and experiencing the mosaic fragments held its own thrill, we also made a series of recordings of different sounds in connection with mosaic. These recordings are part of sound research that Marina Bien-Aimé, who is a student on the Homewood campus and at the Peabody Institute of Music, had started in Phase I and had returned two years later to Phase II in order to complete. More soon, but here are a few snapshots of our visit!