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"The Labyrinth of memory resembles the world, the temple, the
heart, the pilgrimage. To know the language of the world we do not see, do
not touch, but still experience, remains as desire."
The imagery of this film is based around the Tjurunga stone: the sacred
stones of the aborigines of central Australia.
I began to
compose ‘Incantation’ for piano at the same time as reading a book by
Philip Lieberman on human language and evolution: ‘Eve Spoke’. In
parallel I was also listening to ‘Meta Incognita’ an electro-acoustic
work by Philippe Le Goff, constructed primarily of Inuit conversations,
mouth noises and quotidian environmental sounds. Out of these activities
came the idea that there might exist forgotten words/sound-worlds which
are an alternative to ‘our reality’. These worlds would appear as
constructions of desire for a spiritual dimension. To reveal the unseen in
nature (‘the interior of time’ ) we would need to hear these
‘forgotten’ words. The piano music ‘Incantation’ became the
starting point for ‘Enter Earth’, and the whole work became the focus
for the exploration of these ideas. Text was
recorded then later fragmented to produce individual component parts of
speech. These fragments of the following text represent the sounds
of ‘forgotten’ words. The vocal sounds heard on the recording are an
incantation to evoke the spiritual: ‘the interior of time’.
"The
Sun which is always in the land, inside this earth, in likeness has risen
to become the Dome. The voyage is certain from this place, this Holy City."
"Now is the moment of the inner landscape. When the wheel turns, the
forgotten words will reveal the interior of time. These signs are touched
desire. Thunder speaks to the traveller, the storm of memories. Enter
Earth."
The
structure of the piece represents the tjurunga stone itself. (The sacred
stones of the Aborigines of central Australia). On the surface of these
stones are distinct areas of images/symbols/patterns, usually dividing the
surface of the stone into three. Within ‘Enter Earth’ also there are
three patterns ( areas of denser musical Material ), overlaying a more
discreet background. The piece moves through and over these areas of
difference until the last element of the piece (
fracturing stone ) is integrated within the structure. The
text-incantation to awake the spiritual splinters the sacred stones
releasing all that is contained within. The Aborigines believe that tjurungas
contain the spiritual body of the eternal uncreated ancestor which was
distributed when he touched the earth. The stones contain the souls of the
unborn.
The
electro-acoustic piece ‘Meta Incognita’ by Philippe Le Goff premiered
in 1991 during the Prix International Noroit-Léonce Petitot, was the
result of a long journey which took him to the Arctic to listen to nature,
language and music. A journey to find out who, of bird, man or wind, first
began to sing and speak. There are two elements from ‘Meta Incognita’
which particularly inform ‘Enter Earth’. Firstly the atmosphere of a
remote place with a strong spiritual dimension, and secondly the Inuit
language revealing itself as an extremely economical form of
communication. ‘Enter Earth’ explores the idea of the remote place
through changes in surface texture/image as already mentioned. The
fragmented text is integrated into the whole, as if another language of
great economy. The rhythms, textures and colours of the sound-world in
which this language is placed is more ‘musical’ than purely
‘environmental’ as it is in ‘Meta-Incognita’. The ‘nature
mysticism’ subject of the text achieves its purpose by representing the
‘forgotten words’ within an ‘inner landscape’ made tangible.
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This short film was created to be shown within the context of a
gallery space. Please contact Ian for further information.
text &
stills ©
Ian Harris 2006©
Ian Harris 2005
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