(2013-14) composition, LP, visual score, installation
spinning-in-stereo is a composition for two voices, presented as an installation: visual score, and vinyl LP. The piece adopts a traditional Gaelic spinning song, ‘Oran Snìomhaidh’, as the basis of a circular score. Beginning with elongated tones and ending with a steady pulse, the arrangement moves through fourteen revolutions, each with a different emphasis in terms of time, rhythm and/or pitch. As it turns on the record player, spinning-in-stereo echoes the cyclical, rhythmic nature of working with wool, from caring for the sheep out on the hill, to carding, spinning, and the waulking of the tweed, with it’s renowned song tradition.
The piece was initially commissioned by Screen Bandita as a live soundtrack to Werner Kissling’s film ‘Eriskay: A Poem of Remote Lives‘ (1935) for their Rebel Landscapes tour (2013) and the record was produced as part of TG:GENERATION, an exhibition in the Travelling Gallery as part of GENERATION: 25 Years of Contemporary Art in Scotland (2014). The installation has also been exhibited at Daughters of Penelope, Dovecot, Edinburgh (2017-18);
Available as a digital download, or limited edition 12” vinyl here.
