El Origen De La Noche is a sound art work composed of public and private archives of indigenous music/voice/sound traditions native to the Colombian Amazon region. Situated in El Museo De Arte de la Universidad Nacional in Bolivia, the piece presents itself as a multi-channel audio installation spanning multiple floors located in an open courtyard frequently found in colonial style buildings in the region in which the museums finds itself.
âIn its evoking of indigenous sonic territory and customs, El Origen De La Noche aims to âcureâ the new space in which the sound finds itself through the means of the listenerâs listening. He who âassistsâ in the phenomenon may have a transformative experience explains the text. To cure means, amongst other allusions, to clean, renovate, pass through an existing territory with such a thought, to remember and bring to memory a sacred place. To ask the spiritual owners of the place their permission to place oneself beside it.â
The piece presents itself as a compilation of recordings of ritualistic moments customary of these Amazonian tribes, made up off primary and secondary recordings, sounding in particular moments as decided by sound editor Miguel Navas. The piece is entirely audio centric, the multiple speakers and artist note making up all that is visible.
The artist seems to have selected the open courtyard space specifically for the piece, Â at first glance, for lack of a better expression, one may feel confusion upon hearing the indecipherable chanting, drumming which within a short amount of time seem to contradict the institution surroundings. I specifically allude to the power of the Art Institution and the sensitive position of the indigenous artist. Furthermore in the nature that the sounds are digital reproductions, the voices, chants and evocations of the environment are disembodied in this open space. Through the reproduction of the recorded sounds, the confinements of the courtyard define the boundaries of the impromptu space of ritual and these two elements acting in tandem create an invisible evocation yet adaptation of the extracted customary events and their original environments in which they are performed. With this in mind I can understand the artistsâ intentions to create an âinvisible but realâ Â Maloca.
Relation to work in mind:
To quote the MPP proposal form:
I expect to create an audio installation which may or may not include visual/video elements which will explore the idea of Indigenous Amerindian identity.
In this sense El Origen De La Noche and the work I have in mind are both concerned with Indigenous identity, the theme and subject of the piece clearly expresses dedication to shining light on Pre-Columbian traditions with an allusion toward otherworldly and beyond sensical practises which are less readily known due to the Amazonian tribesâ isolation.
I expect people will hear multi-channel playback of soundscape and excerpts of language native to the areas that I plan to record in.
Again El Origen De La Noche and my proposed work overlap in the intention of using a multi-speaker arrangement to evoke a particular theme. This comes from what I imagine a focus on the original performancesâ evoking of the surrounding landscapes and its importance. This is a theme central to my proposed work; how the landscape and those who are part of it interact.
I would also like to create a dialogue with the Amerindian community in London and have an opportunity to expose my recordings to them. I would hope this would stir some sort of response which I could use further to deepen the ethic of the prosed work.
Finally the idea of not appropriating the sounds is incredibly important. El Origen De La Noche, as stated in the artistsâ note, âThe songs, prayers and myths that lift themselves in this space are collective property of the indigenous nations of Andoque, Huitoto, Tatuyo, Barasano, Wayuu, Kogui & Y TubĂșâ. The ownership of the work would be the property of all those involved especially of those with recordings and/or interpretations of themselves and/or elements of their culture.
