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Very much loving this piece of work - the electric palette colour combos, the continuous moving / pulsing, the sort of analogue film textures.. xx

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A conversation with Laure Van Minden & Chris Dowding : ‘Homecoming’ + Visuals

Following our live performance of ‘Homecoming’ at the Squash Blossom Festival (Ipswich, 1st October ‘22) we arranged a chat to chew over what the projected visuals bring to ‘Homecoming’ (originally a work that Laure created with words, transcribed into a musical piece for trumpet by Chris). Do the visuals enhance the experience for artists / audience or in some way disrupt the flow? 

Laure began the conversation by sharing her initial thoughts from our first get together / test / play date, midsummer at the Hive (Ipswich, 21st June ‘22)..

At first I was a bit intimidated with the technology so when I saw all the gear, the camera, I was a bit worried. I just didn't know what would happen, what would come out of it, so I guess I got into it very cautiously. I found it, at the beginning maybe, a bit directive, because I didn't realise I would have to stay in place and sit on the ground. But actually having these parameters helped me to concentrate on the drawing itself, which I loved because it was about the drawing and not about me. 

And the visuals. I thought it was magical. The first time I saw the effect of your visuals on the screen I think I was straight away mesmerised.. the colours changed, the texture changed and the drawing became really alive to me. I thought if an audience were to see this - wow! That’s a way of connecting with people because on my own, drawing on the floor, there's no way so many people could actually see the process of me drawing. So just having it projected added to it... and you complimented really well the mood that was underpinning the whole piece with the music, so I felt more and more comfortable. 

The second gig we had in Ipswich I felt really comfortable trying new material with the feathers and the graphite and doing some writing and, here again, you added to it by dissolving the edges and turning it into water like an ephemeral thing. I have to say I'm quite surprised - nicely surprised - because I've always been against technology. Since I did my MA, I never wanted to incorporate it but I do think that one grows as an artist, as a person, by coming out of comfort zones. 

Me 

It was definitely different the second time at Squash Blossom. By then I think I really understood and appreciated much more what you were actually doing and expressing. As the words were there too I felt I didn't want to step in too far. I really wanted to honour what you were doing with the words and with the materials on the paper. So I felt like I was only intervening in a very minor way around the edges. I didn't want the visuals to take over and be doing something different that was at odds. 

At the Hive the visuals were focussed on the circular shapes in the centre - I was playing with these as masks. Something really special was happening in the middle of that space. We could see your hands which I thought was a really lovely thing. You said that having the projection gave you a little bit of distance, a little bit of space. Chris is playing music and is immersed in the music and you're immersed in the drawing. I'm looking, listening and responding. I guess we’re all responding to each other but it was about being careful with to what degree I piled in with the visuals. I didn't want them to dominate. I wanted it to be an even collaboration. 

Laure

I think we all reached a really good balance. I mean, at times I wasn't sure if you were influencing me as much as Chris was influencing me. When I was drawing I wanted to see what you would do with my marks. I normally don't look down at my drawing because I don't want to judge myself, I don't want to be saying ‘this is no good’. By looking up at the screen, although it was me drawing, it seemed like it was somebody else - I didn't mind looking at it. On the contrary, I wanted to see. It was fascinating really. 

Me

Sometimes I’ve seen you with a blindfold so you're like really fully in the space, and not at all looking at what's going on, just really really feeling it..

Laure

Yeah - the second time (at Squash Blossom Festival, pictured above) it was totally different. It was much more emotional because I was concentrating on the words and the phrases. All the feelings came up. I wasn't looking that much at the screen. I was looking down at what I was writing because I was consciously writing this time, every now and again glancing up. I wanted to see glimpses of the writing, not necessarily all of it, just snaps and then going away again and going away and adding, adding, adding…

I have in mind to do this again for the London gig. What you said about being blindfolded - that would be interesting. I can feel the paper so I'll be within the range.

Chris

You were asking whether the visuals change the way I work... 

Yeah, I think they did change what I was doing - it became a three-way collaboration rather than music accompanied by drawing and visuals or the other way round. 

And I've really enjoyed learning more about Ableton.. I think having the visuals there has definitely given me a different relationship with Ableton - it’s pushed me into using it in more of a sound design way, rather than just 'trumpet with electronics', which is something I've been wanting to do for a while. 

I think there was less pressure on the music, because there's the visual element as well and, it becomes an experience in itself, like when we had that long jam in Thornham. It felt really collaborative and cohesive.

Chris also talked about his use of Ableton for live performance and as a recording tool..

I find the technology really exciting at the moment. With Ableton there’s a recording version and there’s a live layout - two different screens that you can switch between. I used it to record the first version of the project but now I’m using some of those recordings live and processing them. So in a similar way to the visuals - you can record something but then you can use that material live and change the effects, process it again and make another version, another layer. 

Chris suggested making a ‘Homecoming’ remixes album which led us into talking about the ephemeral nature of Laure’s work in particular..

Me

What Laura is doing is very pure. It’s a once only drawing. It is ephemeral. It's made in the moment, it exists in the moment and then when that piece is finished, it's finished. That's it. It doesn't have an afterlife but me and you, we've got the potential to bring it an afterlife. It could be remixed, reworked or re-recorded, mediated…  so it's interesting. 

Chris has made live recordings of some of the different performances and suggested using this live audio as the foundation for remixes. As he said, the live audio conveys ‘the emotional thing - a document of how it sounded live and what the feeling was at the gig’. It captures the texture and emotion of the live space..

Me (with lots of questions):

I was attracted to this project because it's got this lovely emotional quality but do you think this technology can be used in an emotional way? Can it help to convey that emotion? Your trumpet playing is also very pure but, when you add Ableton when I add Resolume does it add or take away? Does it enable us to convey that emotion or does it kill it? 

Laure

These are good questions for the audience. It would have been nice to collect comments from the audience about how they felt. All the positive feedback we had from the gig in Ipswich was suggesting that they found it beautiful. I think it does enhance the experience. It wasn't too flashy - you kept the tone with your visuals, you kept in the mood. So you worked with us, not on top of us. You know, that's the thing, the real balance between the three of us. There wasn't one which was overpowering. I felt that it was really equally between the three disciplines. 

Laure said she feels that the project has ‘taken wings’.. that it's morphing and changing in each new context..

I’m really glad because it's taking on another step now. I realise that what I like is to give an awareness to people about what it is for people to live with dementia, so projecting those sentences to the public allows more connections to happen. It connects to people in an emotional way. 

Laure told us about a young girl who came up to her after the gig in Ipswich… 

She was very emotional. She actually cried. She was telling me about her Grandma who has dementia and how what we did really touched her in the core. She thanked me and she said; ‘Carry on… we need to know, people need to know’. And I thought wow! It reconciled me with the power of art. I didn't think that my art had any sort of power to reach out to people. But that’s the beauty of it because it hasn't been forced. It’s happened naturally and now you’ve all come on board it helps get the message out there to the community. 

I love it. I’ll be sad after this, but the journey will carry on in another form. It’s an organic thing isn’t it - it will express itself in other ways I'm sure.

Keywords: 

visuals , felt , drawing , record , thinking , recording , remixes , immersed , ableton , add , technology , realise , lovely , exciting , material , emotional , interesting , music , people

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Seed bank

As part of my practice I am gathering images and video material that I can use as visual source material.

I am interested in seeds as a symbol as the seed contains the potential and a unique set of information that will shape its life.

I see ideas as seeds - as potential for the future. They appear partially formed states - they need love & attention, nurturing, the right conditions and perhaps the right other people for growth.. They are also kinda wiley and the more persistent ones will find a way.

I have a collection of partially formed ideas in my seed bank. Any of these, given the right conditions, the right actions and investment of time and perhaps the right support / investment / nurturing could grow and become a track of the bigger sustainable creative path for my future.

So I googled seed bank and found this incredible resource: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/amazing-close-ups-of-seeds-116214861/ - they are digitally created images artist Rob Kesseler has created by placing an individual seed on an aluminum stub specimen mount, about the size of a dime. The seed is coated with a microfine layer of gold or platinum and put into a vacuum chamber, where it is bombarded with electron particles. The electron beam measures the seed’s surfaces and translates these measurements into a digital image. (Rob's work also looks at pollutant elements ie cobalt, cadmium, magnesium on the surface of leaves).. Oh my gosh, also really love these.

Body bank (?)

Texture bank

Symbol bank

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Dentaure / denaturing

Denature definition dump:

Transitive verb. 1 : dehumanize. 2 : to deprive of natural qualities : to change the nature of: 

Denaturation, in biology, a process modifying the molecular structure of a protein.

Denaturation involves the breaking of many of the weak linkages, or bonds (e.g., hydrogen bonds), within a protein molecule that are responsible for the highly ordered structure of the protein in its natural (native) state.

The word describes the conformational changes in the protein structure resulting in the inactivity of enzymes..

Denaturing a biological molecule refers to the loss of its three-dimensional (3-D) structure. Since molecules like proteins and DNA depend on their structure to accomplish their function, denaturation is accompanied by a loss of function.

verb

gerund or present participle: denaturing

take away or alter the natural qualities of

Biochemistry destroy the characteristic properties of (a protein or other biological macromolecule) by heat, acidity, or other effect which disrupts its molecular conformation.

Originlate 17th century: from French dénaturer, from dé- (expressing reversal) + nature ‘nature’.

A reversal of nature that may be caused by extreme heat!

How can I visually describe this breaking down / destructive change?

Reverse alchemy!

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Visual response : live drawing // live trumpet

The film above shows the progression of work with Laure Van Minden and Chris Dowding as it evolved live! Add my review here What did I learn? What worked / What didn't? What will I do differently next time? Next steps: Meet up with Chris to look at how to get a closer / more responsive mix between audio and visuals.

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Live drawing / live trumpet: the digital mix

A write up by Jo Jarvis Castle

ADD FILM OF THE PROCESS HERE

live art with michelle brace, laure van minden and chris dowding

21 June 2022

We used the upstairs space in the Hive as a base for an afternoon of art in motion. Michelle used Resolume to project onto the back wall, incorporating Laure’s drawing live using one camera as a capture device, with Chris providing music via trumpet and synth (live and then sampled). There was another camera and microphone to record this whole process, in an effort to capture not only the visual result of Michelle’s projection artwork but also Laure and Chris as they worked.

Laure’s drawing techniques are incredibly dynamic, using all of the movement in her arms and body to manipulate her drawing tools on the paper beneath her, sometimes suspending her charcoal or graphite on a pendulum. Chris’ music complemented it really well; performing a piece that layered and evolved from simple trumpet and synth melodies into a rich outpouring of sound.

It was amazing to watch a collaborative process like this come together from the second camera’s vantage point. The session had clear starting points - Michelle with Resolume assets, and Laure and Chris drawing from a previous performance - but each artist drew from each other as they went, resulting in an incredibly fluid, present piece of work.

After setup had been completed and AV equipment tested, we completed the first recording of about 12 minutes. Laure used the charcoal pendulums, developing strokes and marks that Michelle in real-time used to build up the colours and textures of her projection. Similarly, Chris developed the melodies and sampling in real-time; at its peak the music could be felt everywhere in the room.

The recordings finished organically when each person felt comfortable putting their work to a stop; there was no set length of time to any session, so each piece went through its own natural life cycle. After the first recording session, Laure and Chris discussed the origin of their performance piece and its significance as a piece performed post pandemic with dementia patients in mind. The piece celebrated and encouraged movement, but also addressed the feelings and themes of loss experienced by victims and families of dementia.

Part of the success of today’s session was experiencing the composite art piece gain further meaning as it was created. There was the serendipity of the session being booked on the longest day of the year, and the atmosphere of the summer solstice came to feature in the artwork, with Michelle using centralised sun-like motifs in the projections and bold, vibrant colours to complement the textures of Laure’s charcoal strokes.

Of course, one of the main beauties of abstracted work is that there doesn’t have to be a single defining interpretation or emotional response, but as we took our breaks and let the experience settle in our minds before approaching new recordings, I thought about the significance of the longest day of the year. The summer solstice is celebrated by many religions and cultures in different ways, but we all get the same long day. There is also a melancholy to it; even with a fair amount of summer still to go (at least for the Northern Hemisphere) this day marks an apex, a peak before the sunlight ticks back down again and the nights grow longer and sooner. These ends and beginnings are everpresent in the piece performed today, such as in Chris’ music, where the end of one melody provided a foundation for the next. Over time, the same became of Laure’s drawing; after at least one recording, the paper was covered in different textures of black, grey and terracotta, and she began to carve in new marks with white chalk, where the previous drawing gave life to the white drawing that couldn’t have thrived without it. This was colour-inverted on Michelle’s digital canvas, giving the effect of a light surface scraped to reveal darkness and depth beneath.

It was a good reminder of temporality; even things that finish their course don’t leave us, they help shape what comes next.

Again, it wasn’t a part of the plan, but there’s still a lot of poetic contrast in having experienced a process where the traditional crossed with the digital on a date where the daytime crosses over with nighttime. Chris’ music does this by itself with its marriage of brass and synth, sheet music and programmed loops; Laure’s drawings were in graphite, charcoal, chalk and casein, natural and tangible materials used in a way that emphasises the physicality of drawing as an action and process where Michelle’s approach to visual art utilises the utmost of what its technology can offer, turning the natural colours into neon concoctions and animating them on a larger-than-life scale.

Even though the Hive may only be one in a series of locations for Michelle’s collaborative work, today’s artwork was a fantastic use of the space not only physically but in terms of what it represented. The Hive, even in its early months, has seen so many different people and different types of creators in its space, and this session represented so beautifully how collaborations and connections between these diverse people can create something more than the sum of its parts. The upstairs floor offers a lot of creative potential as an open, unobstructed floor space that can be adapted to a whole range of needs, but Michelle’s work goes beyond that and uses entire walls as canvases.

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My atom cloud has temporarily dispersed

Long story short - a new remote friend disappeared / temporarily logged out of our regular exchange of life insights, music and visuals.

He later apologised and said he’d been ‘a bad un about writing’ but that he was now emerging from under a rock.

He told me he would always be prone to periods of ‘random atomic dispersal'. I told him I wanted to make visual feeling states and asked him to tell me more about his condition.

He said he felt like a ‘tired old chunk of coal'.

He said one example is when ‘water changes into ice - so it’s like I was really cold and turned into something completely different’.

I am really interested in this visual analogy and the process of transformation / alchemy from one state to another.

In my practice (taoist water method meditation) we work through a process called inner dissolving. The script goes ‘ice to water, water to air’. It is a method for intentionally breaking down the stuck, gnarly bits of ones inner landscape. It’s not an act of chipping away or attrition or even hard work.. it’s a gentle process, a yin attitude of just intentionally being with the gnarly bits until they eventually run into one another and begin to flow and free again. Returning to an original state. This is a practice I am running in paralell to my DYCP visual experimentation.

John Grant describes in very visual terms his feeling state as a glacier. A glacier that moves through you. A glacier (solid state water) that also passes and dissolves but one that leaves a residual imprint - somehow transmuting the pain into something nourishing and precious;

This pain

It is a glacier moving through you

Carving out deep valleys

And creating spectacular landscapes

And nourishing the ground

With precious minerals and other stuff

My remote friend sent me a track that he made in response to our conversation called ‘Rocks’ with permission to use (no strings attached).

My response: Hey yeah! I got the tracks - thank you!

Rocks is excellent. It’s a bit dark industrial at the start. I like its persistence.. then it kinda loosens up. And out of all this labour I imagine some extraordinary shapes spinning off.. digital spinning. The shaker I like lots and the subtle changes at this point. Wonky keys but it restores its own equilibrium and is much lighter at the end like embers or light sparks.. busy but light and less laboured.

You can see from this text exchange the visual imagination at work. Music inducing imagery. I will make this piece somehow and continue our remote exchange / collaboration.

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Electric textiles

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Ethno futurism

tribal cutltures

symbology

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Reciprocity - giving back - circularity

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The Mountain of Fruits and Flowers

The

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Magic & ritual in modern life

Today is the day after Beltane.

Been thinking about ritual (and how we’ve lost ritual as a life or seasonal practice) and Gaelic connections / connections with the earth and how to elevate this relationship to one of ultra potency and symbolic significance.

Below is the hawthorn blossom. At Beltane Hawthorn blossom was worn and brought into the home. Hawthorn is a deeply magical tree and is one of the three trees at the heart of the Celtic Tree Alphabet, the Faery Triad, 'by Oak, Ash and Thorn'. Traditionally Beltane began when the Hawthorn, the May, blossomed. It is the tree of sexuality and fertility and is the classic flower to decorate a Maypole with.

Add my own blossom spring pictures here.

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Doorways & openings

An invitation. Beginning a journey. Crossing through a threshold.

Grand space - grand doorways

Last weekend went to the V&A (to see the Sian Fan performance - Between Worlds). I loved Sian’s fluid performace in such an incredible space and the use of projection (even if from an audience perspective this didn’t work as well as it could).

The things that were catching my eye in the gallery and then during my walk through the corridors of the V&A were the doorways. They are colossal!! Who made doorways, grand entrances such as this and why? They are not human scale. They are massively exaggerated. Ordinary folks houses would have had small doorways. No pillars. Where are the grand pillar statements of contempoarary life? Where is the wealth and power? Where is this level of inspiration and elevation? Not in the shopping centre. Nothing is built for beauty or particular elegance. Everything’s made for speed, for functionality and for maximising gains!

What about ordinary folk?

Could they be elevated by magical, beautiful, refined surroundings??

Random thought but it nudged my brain to remember & connect this with ‘Shirley Twirls Temple of Unliklihoods’.. this was an early inspiration. A festival tent / extraordinary creation. I remember thinking - THIS is what I want to do.. be a maker of super cool, inspiring, interactive environments. Shirley Twirl’s Temple had paper pillars as an entranceway. They were magical and inviting. I think they had lights inside them. Definitely white and papery. The experience of walking through them was like stepping out of the mundane into something awe inspiring.. a sense of specialness. I too am grand!

Could I make a set (for performance / dance / gesture / posture) like this?

Could I fake a set like this? (photoshop)

Or is it possible to buy paper columns? https://www.paperlounge.co.uk/

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Magic & meaning

Ana Mendieta In her performances, photographs, films, sculptures, and more, the artist explored the mystical and emotional connections between her body and the natural world. In her “Silueta” series (1973–80) of “earth-body” performances, for example, she lay directly on the earth and made silhouettes. Medieta then documented her imprint with paint, blood, or found materials such as twigs or flowers and photographed the results.

Art / body / ritual

Went to see a friend and spent some time sitting peacefully with her in her beautiful garden. She was talking about a piece of artwork she had made for her degree show. About a wooden house that she had lived in with her children when they were little - a house that she found out had burned to the ground. She went to the cordoned off site and salvaged remnants of its former life.. fragments of the pages of books and other pieces.. and in an act of putting this memory to rest she made a shroud.. body shaped on the earth and placed the fragments (ritualistically / purposefully) into this shape and photographed each stage. Forensically. Like photographing a crime scene and excavating her life and the former life of this potent place.