Motion Ensemble circles again in Sackville
On Saturday, May 8, Motion Ensemble performed at Struts gallery with only five, yet very interesting pieces. The first, “Col-l’age” (Alcides Lanza) was a piece that had been dedicated to the Spanish composer Louis Depalo Costalas on his sixtieth birthday and was performed with a quite foreboding mood. The melody at times could be from an instrument or from one of the performers shouting incoherent words and phrases. There was a great mix of atmospheres created with this piece, from the anger and tension of shouting to a calm created through mixes of humming, stuttering, and rambling. However, the turbulence of emotions was brought together at the end with all performers speaking the word “Costalas” together.
Another piece of note for the evening was “Rosa” which was a video played for the audience that had been directed by Karin Aurell’s (Motion flutist) sister, Gerd Aurell. The work featured the colour pink or “rosa” as it’s referred to in Sweden where Gerd Aurell has been exploring it as a visual artist. Karin Aurell interestingly pointed out that although the colour is often associated with princesses and little girls, it is also the colour of earth worms, babies, and vomit. The film featured a young girl in a pink dress, with an also pink back drop curtain, who was unexpectedly holding two dead fishes and talking with them. Throughout the film ideas were brought out about death, holism, identity, and existentialism which Motion then responded to with their instruments to interpret what they thought the sound of the colour pink was. Many interesting sounds were produced in the piece that followed such as Pridmore’s (voice) sound of vocals trying to escape a closed mouth, along with the brushing of string instruments (Andrew Miller on bass, and Nadia Francavilla on violin) to make a sound not unlike that of a blade sharpening. These, along with the low tones of a clarinet (Richard Hornsby), produced a great variety of interpretive meaning within the thought of a single colour, and I’m sure gave the audience quite a few goose bumps while listening.
The fourth piece of the night was composed by Sackville resident James Code, entitled “Study in Nothingness.” The piece was composed in 2007 and addresses both the artistic and the scientific ideas of what ‘nothing’ is. Motion began with Pridmore singing certain phrases which the instruments of the other artists would then respond to, at many times it seemed, in defiance. From the words of a scientific explanation about the world, the music would come out with the randomness that is the reality of the world. Or perhaps the idea could have been taken as more complementary rather than oppositional, as, for example, in response to Pridmore’s question “what is between the atoms, electrons, nuclei?” the music turned frantic as if to imitate the intense energy of particles bouncing around. The music could be taken in different ways, however the ending words “If you can comprehend this, then you understand nothing” says enough about what it means to comprehend and about both the limits and potential of human understanding.
The final piece was composed by bass player Andrew Miller, entitled “Circles Again.” This piece, Miller explained, had a lot to do with cycling, interloping, and intersection, and made use of many electronic sounds either recorded from the environment or made by Miller himself. The piece followed with the instruments playing almost in perfect sync, with the supplement of the recorded sounds from a laptop. The musicians used a strong intensity when playing, almost seeming as though they were attacking the instruments while mimicking each other’s sounds and motions. Each artist would catch onto the other instrument’s melodies and timing as though on the backdrop of a looping spiral, coming together to end on a note somewhat melancholic, yet containing optimism.
The entire performance overall was well received and very much up to the standard of past Motion Ensemble shows. Motion will also be performing later on this summer during OK Quoi?!.
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