Object over Body is about my non-linear recovery from emotional abuse. However, to cheer myself up, the piece is programmatic and features the adventures of a despondent flower pot who ruminates on becoming human, grows legs, and learns that it is still powerless to do anything but run. The first movement, “I have no hands,” focuses on the first of these events where the flower pot, fueled solely by confusing and visceral emotions, has yet to grow limbs. The second movement, “growing pains/becoming bone,” is when the flower pot actually begins to develop physical agency. It grows legs and runs around in excitement. In the third movement, “Winded,” emotions catch up to the flower pot and it becomes overwhelmed.
Premiered by Momenta Quartet at Binghamton University in 2024 and 2025.