"To see the Earth as it truly is,
Small and blue and beautiful in that eternal silence where it floats,
is to see ourselves as riders on the Earth together . . ."
Archibald MacLeish
In 1972 the Earth became known as 'The Blue Marble' -
from an image taken by the Apollo 17 flight
but prior to this the 1967 flight pictured the isolation
and fragility
of the planet that sustains life.
Our position upon the planet is fragile . . .
As we are informed with increasing frequency . . .
But seeing this floating orb so
isolated
suspended
altered our perception of our location within the universe . . .
Seeing this image
Inspired a movement of conscious political awareness of what became known as
the Counter Culture Movement . . . Witnessing
a need / a demand for change - within a capitalist driven politic.
Our position upon this spinning vessel had brought home that
we as a species needed to change / alter / shift / .
This change inspired a radical shift in a multiple areas of
culture, economics, environmental and peace movements . . .
It was as if a revolution had been ignited in the consciousness of parts of the human race
and this came storming out onto the streets and in films, books, text, technology, drugs, dance . . .
We had re-located ourselves within ourselves
and within and upon the planet and within the romantic visions of
That period of human and planetary history . . . a golden age.
The 60's & 70's are increasingly becoming set within a series of
set historical perspectives - written from a series of cultural and political stand points
But
Witnessing the earth as a whole on film altered our reality
and
With this altering reality came change, a drive for change, a desire to alter our relationship with
not just ourselves but with every other living species and the planet as
a
Whole
This dramatic shift brought much together and within the process of Mechanical Air
O and I discuss how the
social, political and cultural systems have attempted to discredit and undermine the changes that were and are still being
proposed in challenge to a 'main stream' agenda that is questionable in it's structure and engagement with the populace and with the ecological fabric of the planet.
Mechanical Air reflects upon our perception and on our location as a species / it reflects upon a back log of ideas and agendas, expressions and visions
that have been undermined since the 1970's.
Everything achieved has been commodified into a brand,
if it can't be marketed & sold it is discredited,
if it questions the status - quo too much it is discredited,
If ideas offer alternatives and threaten the structures that have been in position for several hundred years
They are discredited . . .
there is seemingly no way forwards but a fighting stand still,
a desperate knot, a single full stop .
Mechanical Air reflects upon how we perceive the world, it investigates our location,
It takes breath & movement, visual perception as well as intuitive understanding
to engage with the orchestration of sound / challenging the traditional construction and composition of musical notation to offer other models of engagement . . .
Other languages of expression and translation, collaboration and negotiation to produce a discourse within performance.
Live Performance / A meeting within a single moment of time
We are not reinventing the wheel . . .
the wheel works fine
We are possibly attaching a different carriage,
engaging with a different propulsion method,
painting it in other colours
But we are composing music and orchestrating performance
We are playing.
I sometimes wonder what it will take for a change in perception
of how we view our location / as a species
What do we as a species need to experience before we alter our position
and engage with something other than the commodification of life and living.
Keep Breathing Air.
Small and blue and beautiful in that eternal silence where it floats,
is to see ourselves as riders on the Earth together . . ."
Archibald MacLeish
In 1972 the Earth became known as 'The Blue Marble' -
from an image taken by the Apollo 17 flight
but prior to this the 1967 flight pictured the isolation
and fragility
of the planet that sustains life.
Our position upon the planet is fragile . . .
As we are informed with increasing frequency . . .
But seeing this floating orb so
isolated
suspended
altered our perception of our location within the universe . . .
Seeing this image
Inspired a movement of conscious political awareness of what became known as
the Counter Culture Movement . . . Witnessing
a need / a demand for change - within a capitalist driven politic.
Our position upon this spinning vessel had brought home that
we as a species needed to change / alter / shift / .
This change inspired a radical shift in a multiple areas of
culture, economics, environmental and peace movements . . .
It was as if a revolution had been ignited in the consciousness of parts of the human race
and this came storming out onto the streets and in films, books, text, technology, drugs, dance . . .
We had re-located ourselves within ourselves
and within and upon the planet and within the romantic visions of
That period of human and planetary history . . . a golden age.
The 60's & 70's are increasingly becoming set within a series of
set historical perspectives - written from a series of cultural and political stand points
But
Witnessing the earth as a whole on film altered our reality
and
With this altering reality came change, a drive for change, a desire to alter our relationship with
not just ourselves but with every other living species and the planet as
a
Whole
This dramatic shift brought much together and within the process of Mechanical Air
O and I discuss how the
social, political and cultural systems have attempted to discredit and undermine the changes that were and are still being
proposed in challenge to a 'main stream' agenda that is questionable in it's structure and engagement with the populace and with the ecological fabric of the planet.
Mechanical Air reflects upon our perception and on our location as a species / it reflects upon a back log of ideas and agendas, expressions and visions
that have been undermined since the 1970's.
Everything achieved has been commodified into a brand,
if it can't be marketed & sold it is discredited,
if it questions the status - quo too much it is discredited,
If ideas offer alternatives and threaten the structures that have been in position for several hundred years
They are discredited . . .
there is seemingly no way forwards but a fighting stand still,
a desperate knot, a single full stop .
Mechanical Air reflects upon how we perceive the world, it investigates our location,
It takes breath & movement, visual perception as well as intuitive understanding
to engage with the orchestration of sound / challenging the traditional construction and composition of musical notation to offer other models of engagement . . .
Other languages of expression and translation, collaboration and negotiation to produce a discourse within performance.
Live Performance / A meeting within a single moment of time
We are not reinventing the wheel . . .
the wheel works fine
We are possibly attaching a different carriage,
engaging with a different propulsion method,
painting it in other colours
But we are composing music and orchestrating performance
We are playing.
I sometimes wonder what it will take for a change in perception
of how we view our location / as a species
What do we as a species need to experience before we alter our position
and engage with something other than the commodification of life and living.
Keep Breathing Air.