artist Rowena Pearce
composer Helen Ottaway
sound designer Alastair Goolden
violin - Anne Wood, voices - Melanie Pappenheim, Caroline Radcliffe
"Art truly for the senses"
"Hi-tech blended in nature"
"So beautiful, delicate and uplifting"
(visitors’ comments)
"Cortex in verba novissima venit. Inde fluent Lachrymae
(The bark closed over their last words. Then the tears flowed)"
Ovid, Metamorphoses
Flowing tears quenching the burnt earth as Phaeton’s sisters mourn their brother after his terrible and destructive fall is the main inspirational image for Lachrymae (Latin: tears). Turning to amber in the heat of the sun, the tears are carried away by the river to become adornments for Roman brides. Thus something of beauty is created and the sadness transcended. Transformation and the emergence of life from water are common themes in the work of Rowena Pearce and Helen Ottaway which, through this story are drawn together, making tears and laments, blending and merging the visual and aural into a single experience. Lachrymae is an exploration of music and visual art through movement. The musical fragments, recorded and edited by Alastair Goolden are woven into a constantly evolving soundtrack through the movement of people around the space. This interdependent relationship between installation and audience is achieved through the use of Soundbeam and a digital sampler. As visitors explore the visual imagery, columns of algae-covered rag paper, surrounded by showers of amber droplets falling to circular pools of crushed glass, their movements conjure sighs, single notes, violin patterns and strands of melody which combine to create a series of laments, personal and unrepeatable.
Somerset Art Week 2000
Frome Festival 2001
A CD is available, see our sales page.
