LES CHANSONS DE LA VILLE MOURANTE or ‘the songs of the dying city’ is a multidisciplinary art series, combining field recordings with moving image visuals to produce a series of indistinct ten-minute short films.
A study into the act of observation, the project initially sought to document man’s encroach into nature, establishing the sonic scapes of harmonious natural environment disrupted by the incessant interruption of humans’ mechanical advance into previously wild spaces.
The project seeks to offer a reflection on the destructive reality of mankind’s behaviour and the impending ecological collapse as a result.
Read more on this project below the work.
Some from the series:
// les chansons de la ville mourante
PERSONAL WORK from WINTER 2018 - (ongoing)
LCDLVM: Norsey Wood, Billericay, 2021
artist statement:
This project began in January 2018 and was initially intended as a predominantly audio-only work of one track, which later was accompanied by a moving-image film of abstract vignettes.
Popular interest in ASMR-style field recordings was growing at that time and piqued my own interest in the tools and methodologies of capturing this style of work, which was very different to the visually led work of mine beforehand. I planned this project as a vehicle for learning the techniques of field recording, and it was a useful creative departure from my entirely visual-based work.
Audio recordings of industrial fan vents and aircraft movements were juxtaposed by sounds of wind, rain, birdsong, and small rivers. This intertwined soundtrack then went on to have a visual aid of irregularly shot films of crashing waves, trains passing, the moving feet of crowds, and wind affecting trees.
The resultant project culminated in a twenty-minute abstract film, which sought to transport the viewer into a highly textural and engaging realm where the film’s subtext, a perspective on mankind’s destruction of nature, was conveyed. The “final” film remained unpublished for over two years, and enough time passed for me to re-evaluate the merits of the end result as it existed then.
Following a rethink, I decided to re-approach the project in late 2020, instead focussing on creating a series of shorter 10-minute field recordings accompanied by videography shot at the same location. It was hoped that this change would produce films that were more easily understood by the viewer, and that weren’t as sensorially overwhelming as the original film was.
This new series of shorter and “more digestible” films bears the same name as the original project and carries much of the original project’s intentions. It is hoped that these films capture an honest account of the natural environment in South Essex as it exists today, and offers a moment of reflection on how what little nature that reminds might soon be gone forever.
watch the playlist on YouTube:
This project is yet to be exhibited.
this project is still ongoing.