Metamorphosis

In the live performance Metamorphosis, Sarah Kim collaborates as the creative lead and narrative sound designer with screenwriter and performer Adeline Ferolo and projection designer and mapper August Graham. Together, they craft and perform a living story, weaving powerful visuals processed in TouchDesigner, environmental and narrative sound produced in the digital audio workstation REAPER, and choreography to encapsulate an embodied narrative of transformation. Metamorphosis uses the life cycle of a butterfly as a metaphor and structure to convey the cyclical processes of life, death, and rebirth inherent to the human experience—physically, spiritually, and psychologically. Intentionally unrecorded, the performance exists only in the moment of its live presentation, emphasizing its transient, living essence and mirroring the fleeting nature of transformation itself.

Sarah crafts a narrative soundscape that serves as both the foundation and thematic driver of the performance. She employs recordings of her voice, environmental sounds, and foley work, processing them in REAPER to create an immersive auditory experience. Inspired by the concept of the Earth as the origin of all life, Sarah begins the piece with a deep rumble representing the Earth’s core, evoking primordial forces. This evolves through elemental sounds—fire, thunder, wind, rain—and into the gentle, nurturing ambience of a caterpillar’s egg, symbolizing the womb of creation. Her soundscape blends natural and electrical sounds, noise, and rhythms, layering textures of contemporary living to resonate with the complexities of modern existence. This fusion reflects what sound studies scholar Jonathan Sterne describes as the “sonic imagination,” where auditory environments mediate cultural and ecological relationships, bridging the natural and technological (Sterne, 2012).

The performance is structured around the five stages of the butterfly’s life cycle—prebirth egg, caterpillar, cocoon, butterfly, and death. Through these stages, Sarah guides the audience on a sonic and sensory journey, capturing the dramatic transformations of the living experience. Her ideation and development of the story draw deeply from the concept of cyclical life, challenging the illusion of discrete beginnings and endings and emphasizing wholeness in continuity. This perspective aligns with indigenous wisdoms across various cultures, which view death as a transitional phase within a larger, ongoing cycle. For instance, in many Native American traditions, such as those of the Lakota, life and death are seen as interconnected moments in a sacred hoop, where transformation is a constant process of renewal (Deloria, 2003). Similarly, Aboriginal Australian philosophies emphasize the “Dreamtime,” a cyclical temporality where past, present, and future coexist, and all life forms are part of an eternal continuum (Rose, 2000). Sarah’s work echoes these principles, using sound to dissolve linear narratives and evoke a sense of eternal return.

By integrating these cultural and philosophical insights, Metamorphosis becomes a multidimensional exploration of transformation. Sarah’s soundscape not only grounds the performance but also amplifies its universal resonance, inviting audiences to reflect on their own cycles of growth, loss, and rebirth within the broader tapestry of existence.