First Notes on a Five-Month Project
Nature… What a splendid territory to explore as an artist. I don’t know if it’s the climate crisis that put the urgency to connect with it, but I’m clearly intrigued by this relation (or those relations) that we need to recover with nature. If I wanted to be briefer: I’m very happy to engage with this project.
That is said, let’s talk about our subject: Nature. In my work, I’m very intrigued with the naming process of thing before engaging it in my movement. It’s a door to a history of things that we, unconsciously for the most part, bring with us in our daily life. So, to start this project, I’ve no other choice than do a little research about the word “nature” and the way I’ll manage to unfold it with this project.
What Is Nature?
Borrowing from Old French nature, “nature, essential quality”; from Classical Latin natura, “nature, original quality”; from Classical Latin natus “born”, past participle of nasci, “to be born”. (Antidote Druide)
It’s also fun to notice that the word “nature” is used mainly for two different situations:
To describe “everything that exists and happens in the physical world independently of human activity.” (Ibid.)
To describe “the main or relevant qualities of something.” (Ibid.)
Both of them remain me the sensible relation we engage to describe things outside of us. Only the scope changes the situation: Do I look close to one thing or do I look over the big picture. And this scope reveal the distance we create between us and the world and I guess it’s something that I want to explore here.
I also love this idea of birth (that came from the etymology of the word) as the project should pass through three seasons (and they are really apparent here in Canada): autumn, winter and spring. Those seasons represent for me death (autumn), mourning (winter) and (re)birth (spring) and there is here something that connects to specific parameters of the percussive dance:
Death
As the moment when the gesture brings sound to life. —> There is a death moment: the action is complete, there’s no more reason to move for this part of the body.
Mourning
When the tension in the part of the body release, we finally know that’s no more sound will come from this action.
(re)birth
When a desire comes from the heart, it brings back life to an action-oriented gesture —> I want to make a sound here and at a certain moment “in time ”.
Every aspect that comes into those three categories will be material for the piece. As it’s only a touch on the subject, the goal for the next four months is to gather information from Nature. Walking, observing, recording. Trying to reveal the transition in between each action…
Walking as a Guide
Let’s finish this post with a little recording of a walk I did this month. I found walking is a nice introduction to a sensible engagement with nature and a powerful tool when coupled with a recorder. It brings motion that invite sensations and the recording give me the opportunity to select what I want to isolate. Walking also gives me time to disappear and let the magic happen: it helps life to be seen. With this recording, you can hear this idea of “scope” and “distance” with Nature as a result of my walk.
When listening to it, close your eye, feel the transition(s) between places.
Antoine