Trails and Topographies

Music

DesoDuo

Film

Jennifer Bewerse & Cassia Streb

Mail Art

Katie Eikam

about the art

This month, we present Trails and Topographies by DesoDuo (Kevin Good & Katie Eikam) and the MFYI team. This multidisciplinary project combines film, sound, and visual art to explore the climate crisis and human impact on natural spaces.

Kaitie Eikam’s visual art serves as both this month’s postcard and a graphic score for DesoDuo. Using photography and line drawings with natural materials collected on her hikes, Kaitie’s work reflects, contradicts, and enhances views of the natural objects while preserving their natural simplicity.

DesoDuo interpreted Katie’s score through the lens of their personal relationship to the Eaton Canyon—a popular hike just a few miles from their home. In 2023, the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument, home to Eaton Canyon, was listed on Fodor’s Travel 'No' List, asking tourists to avoid the area due to overcrowding and human-generated environmental damage. DesoDuo’s sound piece blends field recordings from this area with percussion and harmonium fragments to ruminate on the challenges this situation presents.

The accompanying film by Cassia Streb and Jennifer Bewerse continues this reflection on human impact. It opens with trash imitating the landscape, which is carefully removed to reveal a stunning view of Eaton Canyon.