…they conjure aglow, movements…
Lockdown 2020 was an opportunity to work in-between the reliable edges of structure and form. Performances became elusive and hazy, and so became a state in themselves. Communication was reduced to delayed digital conversation or rushed emails in-between
Bodies In-Between
Bodies In-Between is a tool for learning more about perceptual and bodily liminalities, and how these play out in communal situations. Each of the six exercises use listening to inspect the boundaries of bodies, both in an external sense (as in, literally where your body is in relation to the environment) and internal sense with regard to aural attention. There is balance between participation and passivity—listening and hearing— such that we encourage perspectives to alter, both within and outside of the body, to see how this affects listening. There isn’t a wrong or right way to engage with these exercises: Kate and I can only suggest and invite you to think through sound as we have and, we would imagine as it certainly is for us, that these might not be easy or clear.
We led Bodies In-Between as part of amexperimental attic #6 at Dai Hall, Huddersfield. Daniel Johnson Gray made a film of its images, sounds and interview snippets.
Sitting between ambient and experimental genres, HEKATE’S VOICES is an immersive meditation on transience and intimacy. The 40-minute piece uses witchcraft as its inspiration, attempting to conjure the powerful but ever elusive Hekate between its materials: recordings of Mother Shipton’s Cave and Pendle Hill, multi-tracked piano, distant vocals, and unexpected heartbeats. These materials often hover around and within each other, collapsing as they come into focus, as though the piece is a mediator between internal and external realities. Contorted, bittersweet expression is entangled with emotional blankness, making the two indistinct from each other. HEKATE’S VOICES strays into shades of benevolent acceptance and deceptive catoptromancy.
Hail Hekate, She who holds the Keys.
Hail Hekate, She who lights the World.
Hail Hekate, She stands at the Gate.
I stand before you, humbled by your blessing of a new key,
That opens the gate to a new beginning.
Accept my gratitude for bringing me to this place.
May I be brave enough to take up the key.
May I be committed enough to do the required work.
May I be strong enough to overcome all obstacles.
I ask Your continued blessing,
Your guidance,
And protection,
So that I will be true to my path ahead.
Hail Hekate, She who holds the Keys.
Hail Hekate, She who lights the World.
Hail Hekate, She stands at the Gate.
Deepest thanks go Katharine Lucy Haworth for providing us with guidance throughout our time with Hekate.
Our return to Pendle Hill
22nd June 2023 - summer solstice / full moon in Capricorn
We returned to Pendle Hill with filmmaker Angie Guyton. Our aim was to capture old haunts, re-walk our footsteps and offer gratitude as a way of closing the circle on this project. Spiritual preparations included frequent meditation with hand mudras - Gyan Mudra, Lotus Mudra, Yoni Mudra, Buddha Mudra, Christ Mudra - and intention setting.
Prayer to Hekate
I am root, I am home
I am mother, I am love
I am not the goddess
We offer herbs and a rose as thanks and to draw our work to a close
We celebrate your fullness and the fullness of today through sound, touch and shape
We return to this ground to reflect and appreciate what we have
We take what we find with gratitude and a promise to say your name with honour and respect
Our time is done