On November 8, 2018, the deadliest fire in the history of California came to life northeast of Chico in the drought-stricken Sierra foothills. This event, known as the Camp Fire, ripped through over 153,336 acres of land, destroyed 12,637 homes, left tens of thousands of people homeless, and killed 85 people. Most of this destruction occurred within just four hours of the fire starting.  Days later the specter of this fire would descend upon the City of San Francisco, CA.

Two years later smoke returned to haunt San Francisco. On September 9-12, 2020, a group of Northern California wildfires canvased the city with plumes of smoke and red, orange, and yellow skies. This infernal season burned over four million acres (6,250 square miles) of land, taking hundreds of homes and 31 lives. Scientific research suggests that the burning is tied to higher temperatures due to climate change.

When Dreams Are Reality is an immersive, quadraphonic, and multi-directional sound environment of experimental timbres recorded from the artist’s performances of analog synthesizers, electric guitar, and bass guitar. These audio recordings are arranged and performed live by a set of generative computer algorithms. This real-time computer- driven installation yields combinations of sonic events that never repeat. However, despite its stochastic nature, the overall composition yields a certain mood, experience, and spirit of time and place. When Dreams Are Reality is a three-dimensional sound installation augmented with subtle lighting set to quiet umber hues. Upon entering the installation, audiences have the opportunity to sit down on a bench to reflect on a sonic memory of when dense smoke engulfed San Francisco."

An important component of When Dreams Are Reality is the artist statement itself. This text is a character fiction — a San Franciscan’s self-implicating story of affective solitude, reflection, and response to experiencing the sight, smell, and breath of unhealthy air. To cope with the consequences of regional fires, the city dweller responds to the awesome aftereffects of local destruction in a manner consistent with the dominating worldview by which the city is fueled and fueling. The sonic memory itself belongs to the City of San Francisco as a living entity choked by smoke, as witnessed by the story’s character.

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