How long will the orange sea remain?

for live electronics, voice, field recordings, 4 speakers and light, performed by me, on 16 January 2024 in Bern, Switzerland

work in progress

How long will the orange sea remain? is a work in progress for live electronics, voice, and field recordings. I started this project during my Erasmus in Bern, Switzerland. The piece combines the exploration of an electronic instrument with my master research about writing poetic fieldnotes and the process of exploring and returning.

For this research, I made many walks along the river the Aare, which was close to my home in Bern. While walking I was wondering, writing and reflecting. Usually I walked very slow, trying to notice as much as I could of the environment I was in. Noticing the changes - from the season, leaves turning yellow, brown, no leaves - to changes in the light of the sky. During one of the walks I recorded my footsteps.

There is a sentence in a book by Nan Shepherd (The living mountain, 1977) that I thought often about while working on this piece:

‘Yet often the mountain gives itself most completely when I have no destination, when I reach nowhere in particular, but have gone out merely to be with the mountain as one visits a friend with no intention but to be with him.'

For me, the mountain could be replaced by any place you explore that is dear to you (in my case, walking along the river the Aare, or exploring electronic sounds). I find the idea that something reveals most of itself when you don’t have a clear destination or purpose for it beforehand inspiring. It is an encouragement to be more open and listen to what is around you.