Parchments

Performance premiere at Bauhaus Dessau, DE. Ronan Whittern (Bassoon) Nathan Watts (Cello), February 2020.

Extracts (images) featured in The Gathering Zine (London, Design Museum) 2020.

Parchments (functional apparatus) is an assemblage of three painted scores (black Japanese ink on 300gsm cream cartridge, 29.7 x 42.0cm), layered in eight different configurations and backlit by LED. The work draws conceptually on histories of tattooing, of mark-making, vellum inscription and trace, and explores the idea of layers of memories and wisdom(s) held in the 'skin' - of bodies, of instruments, of buildings, of communities.

How do we hold the memories of the things that have touched us? What does it mean to touch and sound?

The work can be explored by 1 - 3 movers or instrumentalists in an improvisation capacity.

All eight panels should be utilised in performance. Performance should be between 10 and 30 minutes long.

Scores can either be printed, and laid in any grid or linear configuration on the floor, or projected, one-by-one onto the wall or floor (if this is the case, care should be taken to ensure that colour distortion is not too evident).