Solfège Souche, 2018, single-channel video, sound composition from solfeggio frequencies, relating layers of what humans are as spirit, body, and connection with nature through how we manage to survive being chopped down, disconnected, technologized, and continue to move toward light and grow. A Solfège Souche is by definition the root of a forgotten connection with nature. Filmed in Maridalen, Oslo, Norway. Exhibited Italy, South Korea, USA, France, Norway. The A.R. project developed into Afjordance. This video and those found on this website are included in the Videokunstarkivet, in Oslo, Norway. Special thanks to Atelier Nord. Solfège Souche is part of the larger body of work: Virtual Material exploiting several aspects of photography while engaging in phenomenological subjects with water, stones, forests, technology, vision, body, perception, ethics, joy, and care. The Virtual Material body of work includes: Trânsito, Teknovisuell Experience, Sonidos, Fleuressence, Relatively Dimensional Still-Life, 1919 in 2017, videos, installations, as prints, projections, wall coverings, acrylic prints, garments. For screenings and collection, contact: mariammanart@icloud.com
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Installasjon Bilder/Installation Photos: Marc Pricop, Trondheim, Norway
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Ut queant laxīs resonāre fībrīs; Mīra gestōrum famulī tuōrum; Solve pollūtī labiī reātum, Sancte Iōhannēs.
A Solfège Souche is by definition the root of a forgotten connection with nature. In times of rapidly increased use of technology, humans face increased stimulation and variables on age old questions in ethics and morality. In an effort to portray a dynamic relationship with nature, instead of dominance over nature, the Butoh movements recreate ways lifeforms cut down in the forest continually find ways to reach towards light. This space framed in the video presents a body moving amongst an autumnal forest, merging and emerging from light and shadows. The body draws lines through movement; binaural beats compose the soundtrack. The pitches register at markers in time, reminiscent of ear trauma or tinnitus. The Solfège Souche video is situated at the intersection of dance, performance, video art, projection, embodied cognition research, and resonance study. The artistic research and pedagogical development around the project asks the questions: Are our cultural and bodily movements dangerous if we do not understand what we stand to lose? In what ways do sounds move and change forms from within the body and around? The term, Solfège, refers to the music education method developed to teach sight-singing and pitch accuracy. Originating in 11th century, music theorist Guido of Arezzo assigned six syllables: ut, re, mi, fa, sol, la, now recognized as the major scale. Much later, the “ut” was changed to the open syllable “do”. “Sol” changed to “so”. “Si” later became “ti”, was added for the seventh scale-note, giving rise to the modern solfège. Souche has several meanings; as a stump (of a tree), the Latin word meaning root, simultaneously referring to genealogy. Souche was also a name of an unknown virus claiming the lives of at least twenty people (une souche virale inédite a fait au minimum vingt morts).
February 2019, Palazzo Michiel, Strada Nova, 4391, 30121 Campo Santi Apostoli, Venezia, Italy
June 28 – July 14, 2019, Concept Exhibition, Czong Institute for Contemporary Art (CICA), Gyeonggi-do, Korea, Catalogue
October 2020, The Performer, LoosenArt, Millipiani, Rome, Italy
June 2020, Semi-Finalist, Dumbo Film Festival, New York
June 2021, Best Experimental Film Finalist, Beyond The Curve Film Festival, Paris, France
June 2021, New York Tri-State Film Festival
March 2023, Manifest/o at Galleri KiT, Trondheim, Norway
“I love the way the figure is emerges then blends back into its surroundings, it is how I feel in the wild parts of Skye as if I am the landscape. The light is beautiful. It isn’t like Bill Viola’s work, but it has the same emotional effect on me.” – Joan Foye, UK
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