 |
| WIND 1, 2003, MUSICAL COMPOSITION (TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE BY ANDREJ BAKO) DE INRICHTING, GGZ NHN, 2003 |
| The sound composition for Church Organ ‘Wind 1’ is a conceptual artwork. The layering of ideas that inform the concept and the final reception of it by the visitor/audience at GGZ Noord-Holland-Noord chapel in Heiloo make it stand somewhere between an experiential/installation piece. Due to its numerous layers, it lends itself to varied interpretations, and in doing so, hopes to engage the audience in a tangible as well as questioning spirit. One will invariably encounter the sound piece as an un-announced musical score whilst in the chapel. Its composition bears unconventionality, although the sound is that of an organ. As the music reverberates through the chapel interiors, an environment is created that surrounds the visitor. Little does he know what constitutes these sounds… It is through this engagement that the artist hopes to introduce the very first layer of the piece, that is, the subjection of the visitor to ‘subliminal messages ’ within the sounds. The GGZ has a history of serving as a Psychiatric Institute for the study and cure of Schizophrenia. The museum in GGZ bears testimony to the various treatments the patients underwent in order to treat the symptoms of the illness in earlier times, when little was known about it and its causes. The work draws inspiration from these complexities which form the nature of the Psychiatric practices in the history of GGZ, uses these as a base, and takes a conceptual leap. In an attempt to ‘influence’ the visitors by feeding them with ‘subliminal’ messages that they may be unaware of, the composition borrows its form from psychiatric methods to study and understand aspects of brain function as well as therapy and treatment. Consequently, ‘Wind 1’ is formulated as a form psychological therapy to which the visitors at Heiloo are subjected. Subliminally influencing their thoughts with information that may alter their perception is a key aspect of the work. The second layer of the work involves the nature of the composition itself. The composition is based on the condition in Schizophrenia in which the patient is unable to distinguish between many sounds and conversations around him, with the result that he is confused and cannot distinguish between reality and imagination . All the sounds in the piece have been extracted from the ‘spoken texts’ in the Bible, The Bhagwad Gita and the Quran. Each sound is hence a word, relating to the scriptures. The Chapel at GGZ is open to all faiths and this has offered the possibility of looking deeper into the nature of the Christian faith. The ‘reality’ of the world in religious faith is quite different from earthly living. The ‘conceptual’ Heaven of the Bible to be reached through faith in ‘earthly’ living are two very different versions of what the definition of reality is. Further, the Christians believe that the Bible is the only ‘Absolute Revelation’ and that the revelations in Islamic, Hindu and all other world religions are only ‘Minor Revelations’, which can be illuminated through the light of the Bible. Thus, the idea of using the descriptions of ‘Paradise, Promised Land, Brahman..’ from the Quran, Bible and The Bhagwad Gita seemed appealing and have been woven together to produce the musical composition for the Organ. Like a ‘schizophrenic phenomenon’ it is impossible to discern between the various strands of scriptures of the ‘Promised Land’ in their lush, other-worldly beauty when the music plays…and one is registering all this subliminally, as it influences our power of judgement. |
 |