BETWEEN

The idea that has guided me since the beginning of the year is ‘space’, which is in itself a broad concept that can be taken in many directions. My interest in this concept came from a philosophical approach that speaks about: the void the space between.

I examine these concepts through relationships that exist in the space between the bodies, the space, the sound and the viewers.

I asked questions -

Do the bodies define the space for me? Or does the surrounding space define the bodies?

What turns the vessel into a container if not the space inside it?

Can a resonant cavity contain a wave of sound without itself having air inside it?

Thoughts about superficiality and essence came to me.

Suddenly what was tangible, visual, existing and visible to the eye and the touch, became equal to the surrounding “emptiness” and even less than it.

Resonant cavity

A resonant cavity is a closed or almost closed space that allows certain waves to exist inside it, for instance sound waves.

The resonant cavity limits the length of the wave to certain values depending on its geometric shape.

I created bodies in space that “speak” sound. Bodies used as bodies of resonance.

The bodies differ in size and shape and as a result so do their sounds in space.

I compiled a set of notes built from different shapes.

Music translated into a language of shapes.

In fact all bodies in space are musical instruments that emit different notes.

Thin and long.

Low and wide.

Sharp and soft.

Flowing and fragmented.

The volume also changes according to the opening of the body.

The way in which the bodies are hung strengthens their musical appearance.

The taut strings send me to the world of strings and staves.

When I look at the set of strings I see before me a set of notes.

A set which relates to the space which is between the bodies.

A resonant cavity and what is in between

silence

interval

pause

break

breath

interlude

interruption

rest

silence

Without all of these there would be no music. Just as without the “emptiness” we would not be able to tell what exists.

The space created between the body that is suspended and that which rests speaks of this silence.

Each interval creates a horizon through which we can look into the beyond.

Different sightlines, ‘realms’ that shift and change with the movement in space.

“The music is not in the notes but in the silence between them.” (Mozart)

The space between the bodies creates a tension.

A tension that allows for a meeting.

A meeting that creates a dialogue and speaks of stability, ground and security as distinct from the suspended, the slipping and the swinging.

The distance between them is not great. Touching but not touching, they give the feeling that they complement one another and present themselves here as one body.

They want to be, to touch and to feel but there is an emptiness between them.

There is longing.

Music is an inseparable part of me.

Engaging in it invites me to enter my own spiritual world.

Through singing I feel a connection to the sublime; to something that is beyond what the eye can see.

I am a being separate from life; feeling that there is another existence.

When I sing I open my heart and allow people to listen to the depths of my soul.

I touch my emotion and so allow others to touch theirs.

I feel close.

More connected.

I allow for longing.

For my mother.

The sound is made up of recordings of the sounds of the bodies themselves.

The decision to use different clay bodies, fired to two different temperatures, came from a desire to test the quality and the notes of the sound.

During the work process I concluded that different firing temperatures did affect the sound and as a result the range of notes produced from the bodies became enriched.

Sound was produced in a natural way by tapping with my fingers on the bodies, without any need for external aids.

I was surprised to discover how many types of sound could be produced. I learnt that the place on which I tapped on the different bodies determined the value of note produced.

When I tapped the bottom of the body I got a tight bass sound, in contrast to the upper part of the body which produces a high and open sound.

The shape of the body and the size of the opening also affect the sound. The larger the opening, the stronger the sound and its reverberation in space, compared to a small opening that restricts the sound waves and leaves the sound weak.

In all the places that I tapped the sound was soothing and pleasant to the ear. I felt that dissonance in the sound was lacking and felt that I needed to produce a sound that would cause discomfort and give another layer to the sound work.

I used my fingernails, stroking the body with them from the bottom to the top. I was excited. Another sound had been found, pleasant and at the same time jarring.

A sound that holds within it emotion.

After editing the sounds, I listened. I allowed myself to sing along with them in way that was intuitive and flowing, without judgment.

In addition to the random melodies and sounds that emerged from me, I sang part of a song that I had written. A song that contains longing, memory, pain and ‘emptiness’ like the bodies themselves.

The more I let go, the closer we got, until I had the feeling that we were one body.