Like so many projects, Lost and Found was born of lockdown, and it has taken over my life in a very nice way. Back in June/July 2020, with concerts and projects cancelled I planned the project, applied to Creative Scotland, and was delighted when a few weeks later they sent a YES! I was also of course slightly terrified. It is quite a big project….
5 commissions for solo flute from Lewis Murphy, Claire McCue, Laura Bowler, David Fennessy and Tansy Davies. I’m writing a piece myself, and also recording 4 existing works. It is all designed to be deliverable no matter what happens with the old pandemic. So, I am recording at home while praying that the landline doesn’t ring, and that the bin lorry doesn’t come to empty the glass recycling. I’m using 2 cameras, and audio to my laptop, then editing a wee film for each piece mixing in some of my own photographs. I have never edited a video in my life before so it all takes a bit of time, but my somewhat limited technical skills are improving rapidly.
My recordings of pieces by Edwin Roxburgh and Kazuo Fukushima are up on the flutescotland YouTube channel, and another 3 pieces will be coming out soon, so keep an eye out over the next couple of weeks. (and please don’t judge my cheesy editing :))
At time of writing, Claire and Lewis have delivered their pieces, and Dave, Laura and Tansy are not far off, so the project is in full flow.
My piece is underway. It has a title - Neon Flicker - and it explores the idea that life has been flipping in and out of focus lately, with flashes of normal, and very far from normal. I was imagining the classic movie motel sign trope where the buzzing tells us that all is not well. Like a distorted morse code in the interference - there are messages if we pay attention. Images and memories of the last 18 months flashing through my head - loving clean air in the city, solving inequality, whales that can talk to each other unhindered, grief, wild fires, goats, anxiety, hearing birds in the city, floods, storms, never wasting a crisis…. Flashing images and the sharp focus of helplessness in the face of huge challenges. And flick back to ‘normal'.
So, back I go to prepping for recordings. I’m so looking forward to playing this music live with an audience at soundfestivalin October. In the meantime I hope you can check out some of my little home made films, complete with cheesy photo edits on my website.
See you at a gig somewhere soon!
