Line of Flight, Open Field at The Idea of North: Belonging Exhibition

Line of Flight and Open Field are musical compositions debuted at the exhibition 'The Idea of North: Belonging', in collaboration with artist Flossie Peitsch (music composition, combined with 26 linked canvases displayed via video footage). The exhibition ran from June 29 to July 10, 2013 at Framed, the Darwin Gallery. "Line of Flight is a piece for solo ukulele, composed mostly in the lead-up to the Bundanon residency, and worked on further there. The title comes from French philosopher Gilles Deleuze, who uses the term to talk about moving out of the known and into the new and unknown. In the piece I have explored the potential of the ukulele to open up a 'line of flight', a way to access new territory, and to get something musically new to happen" from my perception that the ukulele offers a different feel and spirit from the guitar, whose musical territory and sound have become very familiar to our ears. I have paired Line of Flight with Open Field for The Idea of North: Belonging because it travelled with me to Bundanon and seemed to come together as I became present to the environment there, especially the Shoalhaven River. Open Field is for solo piano and was composed at Bundanon to stand alongside Belonging. The piece brings together multiple layers" the image of the open field which I looked out on from my desk in the Writers' Cottage, a bird call heard while doing a listening meditation based on Open Field, a Deep Listening meditation by US experimental composer Pauline Oliveros, and visual elements from Belonging including reflecting the number of canvases (originally 28 + 1) in the underlying chord stucture of the piece. I have tried to capture the feeling-tone of the environment, the Shoalhaven River, and also to some extent, my own thoughts and feelings about the theme of belonging, reflecting on discussions with Flossie Peitsch as part of our collaborative process while at Bundanon."