Pamela Hersch & Iris Lune — A Wing and a Heart
Reviewed by Lauren Levato Coyne

The vocals for this work by Pamela Hersch & Iris Lune stand out, a very welcome break from the onslaught of “digital soundscapes” that permeated the event with their specific mix of computer-generated synth-like sounds. There was so much of this throughout the night it became a trope, revealing how much harder digital artists need to work than their traditional media counterparts to make a work feel complete or successful. It’s not just visual, it’s an entire sensory event. In A Wing and a Heart the visuals flow and follow with the song, a morphing colorful shape mimicking a bird flying through a digital landscape. The outstanding vocals paired with these sort of non-specific visuals that feel like they are responding to the soundtrack was a spectacular experience on the IMAX. That’s an important caveat because for this work, presentation matters: post-event, when viewed on a tablet screen, the visual impact is so much less that it’s hard to tell it apart from a screen saver.