Singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Jess Garland’s new experimental film, Harp and Sol, will be released for online viewing May 29. Presented by the Dallas-based arts organization AURORA, the work, which sheds light on environmental injustice through the arts, will be available for one year. Garland’s film calls attention to the inequities of zoning laws in Dallas, and the disproportionate industrial pollution in communities of color. Her involvement with Southern Sector Rising, an organization that fights racist zoning distribution, prompted her to create the film.
The title, Harp and Sol, refers to Garland’s film soundtrack. She says that her music contrasts “the harp with the sounds of the sun,” paralleling the visual contrast of “beautiful Texan nature within industrial zoning.” Garland adds, “The harp breathes life into the film as it offers healing and peace.” Music loops depict the solar cycle, which in turn “represents daily life within this environment.” Garland says the soundtrack “sets a tone that acknowledges the past, while celebrating and honoring our ancestors and the Black women that are giving back to the community today.”
Garland’s film, For more information, visit AURORA’s website.
