Saturday, June 25, 2011

GromiaDNA - Silent Environment Awaiting Rupert's Shakuhachi








A 9 minute silent film requires patience at the best of times - I understand this, and yet (I'm trying these days to think in terms of 'and yet' rather than 'but'). . . I invite you to enter these waters; drift a while with questions, not answers; cup a small boat; fence with ice shards, capture a bubble; dance with a sea star or pull up your skirts and hitch a ride on one of Christina Bryer's exquisite waterborne porcelain forms - an unexpected, slow-motion 'flying carpet'. 

I'd intended doing my usual, 'double-whammy-film-&-record-Rupert-in-performance' thing in Canberra. . . of course, now that I'm here, not there, we have to hope some kind person will take this on.  It would be wonderful to be able to make a second iteration of this, the next one with the breathy thread of shakuhachi (traditional Japanese wind instrument). . . 



7 comments:

  1. Extraordinary++ Congratulations, Claire, subtle and thrilling. There are moments here — the elegant drift of the boat, the dauntless sea star — that simply take the breath away. I can imagine it with shakuhachi, but with several other musics as well.

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  2. Entranced. I was glad of silence but would be curious to watch it with some organic, subtle accompaniment. That's breath-taking moment, seeing the boat drift down and down until … it kisses its reflection, and reality is flipped. And measuring itself on porcelain — the once-in-an-aeon opportunity for a star.

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  3. Well I was very struck by it although I think that a soundtrack would enhance it. As it happens I was listening to a work by the Estonian composer Tüür called Strata which went perfectly with it but I can also imagine other backgrounds like Brian Eno’s Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks or Arvo Pärt’s Spiegel im Spiegel.

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  4. Hi Tim - I appreciate the way you've juxtaposed the words 'subtle' and 'thrilling' in your response to this film. Thank you. The little boat is an altogether different vessel when inverted to (paradoxically) drift right way up - its logical position in air, yes, but entirely illogical and impossible in water. It takes on a whole new personality, don't you think so? The balletic sea star never fails to take my breath away.
    I do love the silence in this. I can happily immerse myself inside these spaces for 9mins at the beginning and end of each day. Water - the accompanying silence - settle my fiery ions and open something 'more' and 'other' to me. At other times, shakuhachi, yes - what other musics would you suggest? Gavin Bryar springs to mind. . . copyright prevents open experimentation unfortunately. . . understandably, too! L, C x

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  5. Hi Pen dear - reality and illusion seem to be increasingly interchangeable these days? I love your lines 'And measuring itself on porcelain - the once-in-a-aeon opportunity for a star'. Thanks ; ) X

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  6. PS. Pen - re; sound and silence. Do you find you can tune either/both in or out, no matter whether they're 'actually' 'there' or not?

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  7. Hi Jim - it always makes me happy to know you've been here (and yes, I think I say this every time you leave a 'pebble'/a comment!). I Googled Estonian Tüür and haven't yet heard any of his compositions, but I will persist. I did, however, happen upon a link to Bjork and her fascinating new project, 'Biophilia'. . . http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/jul/04/bjork-manchester-biophilia

    Here's a quote from the Guardian article. . . "Right now Björk is at the intersection of music, nature and technology, exploring how the three together might help build a more sustainable future. . ." Sounds exciting!

    Arvo Part's music is very often my first choice for these underwater environments. . . copyright has to be considered, however.

    Best to you, Claire

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