CHARLIE WELLS MUSIC
During January 2020, I was extremely proud to be offered one of 8 digital commissions for Wakefield Rhubarb Festival 2020.
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I decided to create an audio visual piece using a rhubarb timelapse and manipulated sounds created with recorded audio, voices and other instruments.
The concept for Rhumination came from the process of forcing rhubarb to grow. The idea that the plant is kept in the dark and forced to seek the light, captured my imagination. It’s the epitome of human intervention into the natural world.
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I imagined rhubarb plants whispering and encouraging each other in the eery stillness of the forcing sheds. The sounds it makes as it grows under these forced conditions further fuelled this environmental fantasy and Rhumination was born. Digitally manipulated rhubarb sounds merge with the human voice, emulating the popping and whispering of the plants, underscored by the roar of flame heaters and menacing bass and vocal lines, forcing the rhubarb ever on and upwards.
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The film was created using 3,200 photographs taken by Pat Morrissey over a period of around 2 weeks. The time-lapse images have been manipulated and duplicated to compliment the uneven, unnatural, relentless feel of the score.
I recommend listening through headphones, as it was mixed for the bluetooth headphones in the market hall. You can see the film on the big screen inside the market hall until Saturday 23rd February 2020
