David Sylvian is a world renowned musician, respected for his solo work, and that created in collaboration with musicians from phenomenally diverse backgrounds and disciplines.

www.davidsylvian.com

D A V I D S Y L V I A N : U N C O M M O N D E I T I E S
Audiovisual installation at Sørlandet Art Museum
• Audio: David Sylvian
• Artwork: Atsushi Fukui
• Lighting design: Kouji Iida / Kaito Office

The origins of this composition/installation lie in my experience and research into the current life and the history of the Canary Islands where the work was first commissioned and installed. It was a work conceptually based on the original inhabitants of the islands, about whom little is known ( the Guanches, a white race, vigorous, of high stature, fair-haired, blue-eyed, and leading mostly a pastoral life ). My interest lay in the connection between the physical or scientific reality of our biological make up, the links to lineage (genetic geneology), location and, to move beyond the realm of science into intuitive logic, the interior life of a community or people; an implied cultural heritage.

The piece was entitled ‘when we return you won’t recognise us’ which alluded to the Guanches physical presence in the bodies of those living (despite the continuous changes suffered by the population aboriginal mtDNA [direct maternal] lineages constitute a considerable proportion of the Canarian gene pool) but also to their spiritual presence in the islands themselves.

Since then I’ve had occasion to expand upon my original intentions for the work and in the process it became less a site specific piece and evolved into something that can potentially be re-staged in a variety of locations. It can be listened to in isolation or viewed as part of a larger work concerning the universality of human experience, the undying spirit, as represented in Fukui’s archetypal work ‘The Botanist’ in which we see the fusion of the male and the female in one body. Self-contained, self-sustaining, a buddhist non-duality. This represents the coming together of the male and female energies as referenced in much of the world’s ancient literature.

The current manifestation of the work stands alone but it’s also designed to embrace interactive elements on the part of live performers. It’s possible therefore to stage a variety of interactive events throughout the duration of the exhibit.

David Sylvian 2011