RA Lates: Deep Earth and Sketch

I went to the Royal Academy Lates at the end of November. The event included performance art, soundscapes and multi-sensory installations. I also saw the Antony Gormley exhibition again and noticed lots of pieces I had not seen the first time around (figure 7-8). It was the opening night for an exhibition called Ecovisionaires which was about environmental issues and people who are trying to help the planet through clever art and design (figure 9). It was interesting to see all the activities around the exhibitions in the theme of, “the body and its relationship to nature and the cosmos”. In one hall we went into there was a family of musicians who lived in the mountains in Wales who played this very uplifting music which sent us into a very calm medititive state (figure 1). The mother in the family won an award for being the best composer of the year this year. Their music incorporated nature sounds like birds singing and running water, alongside a gong, piano, drum and harp. They seemed to be very in-tune with nature which fitted in well with the theme of the evening. I noticed how peaceful it made everyone including myself and I came out of the room refreshed.

It demonstrated to me the power music can have on us like art it can transport us to different states of mind. It can bring us back to the present and quieten all the thoughts running through it. This made me think about different sound frequencies and how it effects our brain. Above the musicians on a screen was written “yugen” (Japanese) meaning, “a profound awareness of the universe that triggers feelings too deep and mysterious for words”. Art can be the same, a painting can bring up strong feelings and spark off a reaction from deep in the unconscious mind. They also put the word “eunoia” (Japanese) on the screen meaning “beautiful thinking; a well mind”. The families way of thinking resonated with my own linking nature and music with well-being and creating a peace of mind in the same way art and nature can also link together.

It was a wonderful experience exploring the RA at night and not knowing what we would find in each room. It had an element of surprise, of seeing things through fresh eyes and being able to play or produce our own art in some of the rooms. I found the whole experience very therapeutic. There was a room with lots of people sitting around the outside the table spot-lit with clay creations on it. Each person was adding to one giant piece of art which had a feeling of community, of bringing people together as one and also having that connection with nature (figure 2 – 3). Different art materials and spaces can invoke different feelings and this was another good example of this. It made me think about the way clients might react in a group making situation and what they might produce.

Another dark room had a reflective moving lighting installation in it which moved around us quite quickly and had a loud noise that sounded like an electric saw coming from it (figure 5-6). It was hard to stay in this room for very long. The noise reminded me of trees being cut down. It brought up some horrible feelings of distruction my sister also did not enjoy this space. There was also a room filled with pine trees and a smell of pine was pumped into the space (figure 4). I enjoyed the multi-scensery experience of the event and came away from the show feeling inspired. I have included some pictures from the night below.

Royal Academy Lates, November 2019 music, art installations, Antony Gormleys work, Ecovisionaires figure 1-9 starting from top left

Observe the Beauty

Observe the beauty of simple things,

See the movement of the wind….. through the leaves,

Find happiness in all that is simple and pure,

Be aware of the quiet things,

Be still. Listen,

Feel the rain as it falls,

You will see it in the flowers,

You will see it in the trees,

We only need to listen.

Stay together

Learn the flowers

Go light.

Classical Composer Maddy Chassar-Hesketh and family, from the Royal Academy Lates, Deep Earth, www.thishealingplace.com

Royal Academy of Art Late’s Exhibition, Deep Earth, (November 2019)

I went to sketch restaurant/bar the same day and I was amazed how this was like stepping into an enchanted world. It was also like the RA an immersive experience which shifted our moods on a rainy evening by distracting us with beautiful bright contemporary art installations, bringing us back to the present moment. Each room a contrast different from the last. There was again an element of surprise and wonder with reflections on nature and the universe. There was a tree lighting instillation that changed colour it reminded me of some of the tree art I have made in the past (figure 10-12). There was a room called the glade which is where we sat, it had a art instillation made from natural materials such as dried leaves coming out of a tea cup and reaching up to the ceiling, it looked like a rain cloud. It reminded me of the saying ‘storm in a teacup’. It was a very impressive piece (figure 13-15). The bathroom is also very unique, there was a piece of writing projected onto the wall telling a story of the space and a ufo in the middle ontop of some moss, a small christmas tree and toilet pods around it. I love the design of this room (figure 16-17). In another room artist David Shrigley has his work around a pink dining room, I particularly liked his piece called the divided self (figure 18).