Observations on Being
by Marshmallow Laser Feast in collaboration with James Bulley, Natan Sinigaglia and Daisy Lafarge
Seven spatial installation works across London Road Cemetery, Coventry
London Road Cemetery, Coventry, UK
(22 June–15 August 2021)
Directed by: Marshmallow Laser Feast and James Bulley
Music: Suzanne Ciani, Longplayer, James Bulley, Malibu, Jon Hopkins
Commissioned by: Coventry City of Culture & York Mediale
“Breathing involves a continual oscillation between exhaling and inhaling, offering ourselves to the world at one moment and drawing the world into ourselves at the next…”
David Abram
Mapping the journey of breath from different scientific and cultural perspectives, this multisensory narrative uncovers the living worlds both beyond and within us, to reveal the deep and beautiful truths that lie just outside the limits of our perception.
Inviting audiences to cross the threshold and follow an expansive journey through the invisible natural world, Observations on Being brings together a series of thought-provoking and immersive audiovisual art installations and soundscapes, which challenge our ideas of life and death and examine our symbiotic relationship with nature. The works were located across the beautiful, tree-filled spaces and buildings of Charterhouse Heritage Park – Joseph Paxton’s Grade I listed cemetery and its arboretum.
Observations on Being was developed by Marshmallow Laser Feast in collaboration with artists James Bulley, Natan Sinigaglia and Daisy Lafarge and some of the extraordinary and influential scientists, writers and musicians who have inspired and informed their work.
Contributors from the science community include; pioneering medical imaging innovators Fraunhofer MEVIS (who partnered on The Tides Within Us), Hae-jin & Jacob Marshall of EMBC, Nessie Reid of the Global Environments Network (GEN), ecologist and philosopher Dr David Abram, professor of Plant Soil Processes Prof. Katie Field, the author and biologist Merlin Sheldrake and holistic scientist Dr Stephan Harding.
Observations on Being features Jem Finer’s Longplayer and includes contributions from musicians including Suzanne Ciani, James Bulley, Malibu and John Hopkins. Visually impaired environmental workshop leader Andy Shipley created the work’s opening Prelude. Poet and writer Daisy Lafarge write the narrative that threads throughout the work and, long term collaborator of Marshmallow Laser Feast visual artist Natan Sinigaglia has collaborated on video installations We Live in an Ocean of Air and Tides Within Us. Designers from Coventry University were commissioned to create a series of ‘resting sculptures’ for the work.
Beginning with a blindfolded walk into the 42-acre site, Observations on Being draws visitors into a series of meditations that explore our intimacy and interconnectedness with the natural world. Seven site-specific, large-scale artworks are embedded in the natural surroundings of the cemetery and bring together music, voice, spatial sound design, groundbreaking visual worlds and sensory effects. Each situates the audience in a powerful encounter that traces the threads of our co-existence, expanding our sense of self beyond our bodies, reaching out into a sensuous and more than human experience of the world.
Observations on Being was funded by National Lottery Heritage Fund and supported by the Garfield Weston Foundation. The Tides Within Us was originally supported and presented by York Museums Trust.
Observations on Being was commissioned by Coventry City of Culture Trust and produced in partnership with York Mediale. Presented in partnership with Historic Coventry Trust, Warwickshire Wildlife Trust and Coventry City Council.
