Notes, 2019 (on-going)
storm scent,
vocal accord,
ice records
Notes (3-part storm accord and 3-part vocal accord cast into 3 ice records) is an exploration into the potential cross-modalities of scent and sound. Combining these two physical and yet ephemeral sensory experiences into a physical and yet ephemeral object: a scented ice record.
The ice record is also a visualisation of sound and scent through its sculptural physicality; bringing another sense into the realm of cross modality.
The sound starts as a haunting vocal laced with a crackle of ice, the crackle slowly builds until the vocal has faded and we are left with a rhythm of the ice, akin to a heartbeat. Each performance is different, each rendition dictated by the autonomy of the ice. As the records melt, the scents captured inside are released; ozone and fresh watery notes lead into damp foliage with a slight floral edge and finally into wet earth and wood: the tension of an imminent storm.
This piece is also an exploration into hyperobjects, specifically climate change and subsequently Timothy Morton’s idea of grief work: it is not just this ice but all ice through all time and space, not just these voices but all voices. Connecting to this huge, ungraspable and yet inescapable notion through the intimacy of a disappearing, transient action.
We are captured physically in a moment by the penetrating qualities of scent and sound: we feel time. I play the role of facilitator: the agency of the ice is apparent as it performs and interacts; the audience also recompose the scents and the sounds through their interaction and subsequent decomposition of the ice.
