Norman Long
Norman Long’s work centers on walking, listening, improvising, performing, teaching, field recording, and exploring memory, place, ecology, and race. Long has performed and exhibited at Yale University’s Center for Collaborative Arts & Media in Newhaven, High Zero Festival in Baltimore, as well as the Experimental Sound Studio, Kavi Gupta Gallery, The Renaissance Society, Chicago Humanities Festival, Chicago Cultural Center, and the 2021 Chicago Architecture Biennial all in Chicago. Long has performed and toured with Angel Bat Dawid and the Brothahood, the Ali/Harris/Long/McKenna group, Honey Pot Performance Spectralina, Todd Carter, Xris Espinoza, Carol Genetti, Damon Locks, Jamal Moore, Tatsuya Nakatani, Joe Namy, Cristal Sabbagh, Ami Yamasaki, and Sara Zalek. He has released his compositions on labels such as Hausu Mountain, Reserve Matinee, LINE, and Room40. Anemoi is the latest ensemble release with Ishmael Ali, William Harris, and Wills McKenna. His solo album, BLACK BROWN GRAY GREEN, was released in September 2021 on Hausu Mountain, and Return and Recovery is his latest solo release on LINE.
In 2023, Norman presented Calumet in Dub, an exhibition of his research-based work delving into ecology and soundscapes of the Southeast Side of Chicago along the Calumet and Little Calumet River area. Inspired initially by a story that aired on the BBC about the relationship of the Little Calumet River to the history of the Great Migration, Long has investigated how housing, labor, and environmental activism has coalesced in this location and how historic figure, Hazel Johnson (considered the “mother of the environmental justice movement”) diligently brought these issues to light. Presented at Columbia College Chicago’s Glass Curtain Gallery, the exhibition consisted of an 8-channel speaker installation in the main gallery, accompanied by two rooms that shed light on the research that has informed the work.
Profile image by: Nathan Keay
Featured Artworks
Acme Steel Co.
SEPA Station
"Calumet in Dub" installation, Columbia College Chicago
Norman Long has crowd-funded a project with 3AP
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- $1,355 raised of $1,200 goal
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Inspired by the writings of Sun Ra and serving as a tribute to the cultural site of Chicago's Washington Park, Myth/Science Dubcology will be a new series of innovative sound concerts that connect audiences and communities. In June 2011, I …
Read more about Myth/Science Dubcology