I HEAR YOU (video)

Please read the below explanation before viewing video:

Earlier this year I recorded 15 random people voicing what they felt the woman in the "I Hear You" painting was saying to them. I then burned these tracks to a CD.

Viewers at my FIRERHORSE interactive exhibit (Watermill, Tobago, 29 November 2014) were invited to sit before her one by one, wearing headphones, choose a random number and listen to that one track out of the 15—the experience being that the woman in the painting was talking to them.

This interactive installation was set up in an old watermill (stone tower in photo below)—an intimate space—just you and her and "her voice"/message for you. This video shows the top of the sugar mill, looking up at the moving clouds. The voice I used as the soundtrack is track #2 of 15 (Voice of Marion Robley). At the end, the painting which was the inspiration behind the recorded expressions briefly appears.

 The watermill in which the "I Hear You" 'audio painting' was located.

Please deVOTE

One of the special ballot papers from deVOTE (2002)
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For the 2002 elections I didn't vote. Instead, I held my own public elections. The interactive piece I created (deVOTE) was a symbolic voting booth (made from the window of an old house) complete with Universal candidates, special ballot papers, a large ballot box, voting ink and daily newspapers (in which members of the public wrote their thoughts, comments and feelings after deVOTING:

The Guardian Angel (http://guardian.co.tt/)
The Express Yourself (http://www.trinidadexpress.com/)
The New Day (http://www.newsday.co.tt/)

I moved this art installation to a few different areas of the country. Wherever it went, people deVOTED:
Central Bank Auditorium (in the concourse)
Queen's Park Savannah (on stage at the Peace Rally a small committee and I had organised)
Mt. St. Benedict

When it was all over, I counted up the ballots. LOVE won (landslide victory) and HOPE came second.

The premise of the deVOTE elections and the candidates is summed up in the first two paragraphs of this press release that was issued at the time:

Trinidad Guardian, Sunday 22 September, 2002

ELECTIONS IN A STATE OF ART

Wherever you go, you will always be a citizen of Your Self. Are you the kind of place you want to live in? Are you the kind of person you want to vote for? As a Citizen of Your Self, artist Elspeth Duncan is inviting the public to come and deVOTE in the deVOTE Booth, a three-dimensional interactive art piece.

The piece uses political symbolism to encourage people to look inside for their true Leader and realise true power lies in the Universal "candidates" listed on the special ballot paper.


Eight years later, these Universal candidates are still up for election: FAITH, REBIRTH, GUIDANCE, HOPE, JOY, CLARITY, LOVE, LIGHT TRUTH, PEACE, UNITY.

Don't wait until May 24th 2010. Vote them in now.

Any Questions?

Source of image

It's been a long time since I've done Sunday Scribblings.

This week the theme is Interview.

I invite you to interview me in the comments section.

Sacred Journey photos and captions

As promised, here are a few of the photos from Sacred Journey, my piece for the interactive art event, Mystic Intervention - a part of Red Earth Eco-Arts Festival 2009.

Click here to read a short synopsis of Sacred Journey ... what it was about.

Through the natural curtain (curtain made by my friend Rosanna), enter the room in which the raw clay finger labyrinth and other elements of the Sacred Journey were contained.

The clay finger labyrinth is inside, zen style on the floor, with two cushions: one for the person using the labyrinth and one for me when I'm talking to them and explaining before leaving them to have their experience alone.
I made the labyrinth with ridges along the pathway to facilitate closed eyes. Three heart shaped rocks at cardinal points surround the traveler with Love. The 'heart' in the fourth cardinal point is the Traveler/the person sitting before the labyrinth. Rose Quartz crystal (The Love Stone) at centre. Surrounded by Love, with Love in self and Love at the centre on the Sacred Journey.

The feathers emanating from each heart shaped rock are from the Miracle Bird ... Wings of Love, Taking Flight, Miracle.

I liked the shadow of these leaves falling on the paper.
Rose Quartz removed from centre, but energy still present.
Flower Powers.
These wire flowers were hanging all over the wooden walls of the room. Each contains a piece of paper with a special message (most of them being a message I've written down after my morning yoga/meditation). After 'walking' the finger labyrinth, the person chooses either a Flower Power or a Nature's Wisdom Card to receive a message that supports, confirms, gives them further insight about their experience.
One of the Flower Powers by the window.
Nature's Wisdom Cards.
A series of mystical cards, made from a selection of my nature photographs. For each one, I translated the symbols from the image and wrote down key words and phrases - messages for whoever selects a specific card after 'walking' the finger labyrinth. 'Nature Tarot', so to speak. Nature speaks to us through symbolic messages that guide us along our path in life when we take the time to tune in and listen.
Throughout the day, various people entered and embarked upon the Sacred Journey to the centre of themselves (afterwards, choosing their message in either a random Nature's Wisdom Card or Flower Power).
For some it was an individual journey ... a moment alone.
Some did it together. The circuit of the labyrinth is wide enough for one finger, so this couple rested one on the finger of the other and moved along the path.
Mothers and children also did it together.
(Mother and son - J & J).
Mother and daughter.
Some little children played on the pathways.
Eyes closed, feeling her way to the centre and back out again.

Quite moment of stillness and connection.

Sacred moments

The Journey of a Lifetime

Journeying to her centre

Bon appetit
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There were many other travelers, but these photos will give you an overall view. Tomorrow I'll share photos of some of the pieces by the other artists who were involved.

An unexpected response

Earlier today musician Kwesi Michael Stewart sent me this link to something he created upon hearing the mp3 of the first verse of my 'Christmas song'.

Have a listen to his offering (about 1 min long)

I love when someone is inspired to spontaneously interact and create like that. Imagine if different musicians and/or poets were inspired to create a new verse each, following on from my first verse, then Kwesi's second verse ... resulting in a whole string of new verses of an eternally ongoing global song.

Fill in the 3 blanks as only you can

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1. _____________
2. _____________
3. _____________
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This is a scheduled post. It will automatically be posted while I'm away.