Through headphones, the listener hears the sketches of a composition, and on a video screen before them (embedded in a desk), sees those ideas being notated on paper.  As the video begins to play backwards (the notes gradually disappearing from the page), the music slowly loses its coherence…

The initial inspiration for this installation was my research into the aphasia of Maurice Ravel and his inability in his final years to transcribe or perform his compositional ideas.

Up until a short period before his death, Ravel was still able to retain a keen ability to recognise even the most minute details of his own compositions when they were played to him.  New compositional thoughts, however, remained tragically restricted from any method of communication.

 Fog explores a communication breakdown between the aural (or rather, the cerebral) and the visual. 

The lifespan of any idea is greatly shortened by its inability to be realised in the physical world – or in the words of Ravel’s neurologist, “To conceive is nothing, to express is all.”[1]  Fog attempts to place the listener in the role of the artist – one who is unable to reconcile their art as a result of a breakdown in communication somewhere between head and hand. 

Fog had its debut at Left Bank Contemporary Art Gallery on 13 November 2009, as part of the 2009 SOUND Festival. 

Fog can be previewed here.

[1] Alajouanine, T., “Aphasia and Artistic Realization”, Brain (1948), p. 239