the kill harness by Jonah Haven / loadbang

Work: the kill harness (World Premiere)
Composer: Jonah Haven (Winner of the 2023 loadbang International Commission Competition)
Performed by loadbang
Trumpet: Andy Kozar
Trombone: William Lang
Bass Clarinet: Adrián Sandí
Baritone Voice: Tyler Bouque
Date: November 10, 2024
Venue: Tenri Cultural Institute
Event: loadbang Presents: Premieres Vol. 24
Audio and Video by Stuart Breczinski

Jonah Nuoja Luo Haven - the kill harness (2024)

i view it as a smooth body.
massive. hungering. in water.
open mouth. Pleasure.

it is a whale with a hole, like me,
a throated expanse, towered tunnel. again,
does it want? and again.

every morning i forget i am you an animal and every night
i remember

the thing that eats —
a thousand currents, like you, keep this room.

ruin ruin rabbit.
wounded deer aren't found.

(Notes by Jonah Haven)

Text derived from the title and part of the transcription on the back of Frida Kahlo's Without Hope:

everything moves in tune with what the belly contains
without hope