Catalogue published to accompany the titled exhibition at the Santa Monica Museum of Art.

Proposal for The Side of the Mountain is a highly charged political opera constrained within a rigorous conceptual frame. Conceived as an original 'opera film', Proposal for The Side of the Mountain is a collaborative four-channel video/sculpture installation between Simon Leung and Michael Webster that took place in a full-scale model of the Santa Monica Museum's Project Room – the site for which it was originally planned. The central action of the opera involves the nameless sexual meeting of two men, one older and one young. As the sexual encounter intensifies, the voice of a third man is heard calling for his dog. The younger man hears the lost dog being set upon by a pack of coyotes, and must choose between calling out to save the dog, and submitting to the desires of the flesh. Proposal for The Side of the Mountain constitutes the final act of a longer three act opera.

This publication is composed of Leung's proposal of the project, which describes its physical form and conceptual considerations, introduction by Ciara Ennis, and notes on the composition by Michael Webster. An interview with Leung, conducted with Juli Carson, the script of the libretto and images of Leung's earlier works are also included.