Farming

FARMING tackles the long-tail impact of settler colonialism and its philosophical motivations on agricultural degradation, big tech utopianism, labor alienation, corporate religiosity, and the abstraction of community — and sets these interrogations to a unique and bombastic sound world that marries disparate strains of post-modern musics, auto-tune choirs, and hyper pop. 

Says Hearne: “How does our history of settler colonialism, with its inherent violence, exploitation and land theft, live on in the constitutive philosophies of our culture? What narratives do we buy into (about benevolent colonists, self-made billionaires, or a peaceful agrarian American past) that help us justify or ignore exploitation of human labor, in industries from agriculture to tech?” 

An intellectual audacity runs through FARMING. Ted Hearne’s music and libretto repurposes primary-source texts, including letters penned by colonial-era Quaker businessman (and Pennsylvania namesake) William Penn to and about the Lenape people living on the land he was colonizing, as well as assorted public addresses from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. In examining the obfuscatory language and ethical contradictions of these texts, Hearne stares into a void of morality and takes heed of the yearning at its core.

Originally commissioned by Philadelphia-based vocal ensemble The Crossing with support from The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage, and premiered outdoors in an open tended field in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, a new theatrical production of FARMING is scored for 12 vocalists with guitars, percussion and electronics, exploring the mythological constructs humans erect to justify their participation in an economy’s unfeeling entropies. 

Director Ashley Tata is joined by community engagement dramaturg Nia Easley, whose work on FARMING helped create a more integrated approach with local communities, including connecting with agricultural students at community colleges, food justice orgs, and the Lenape Cultural Center among other groups to present our project, hear questions and concerns, and invite guests. Presented as its own corporate microcosm, FARMING evolved into a large-scale production about land and its ownership, transfer, and labor, incorporating lighting, sound, and costume design with a six-piece band.