Trace: A Visual and Sound Response to the Space and Place of Nettleham Hall
Clementine Monro & Annie Morrad
Abstract
The practice led research of Clem Monro and Annie Morrad are visual and sound collaborations of space and place. Trace is the first visual and sound response that we have made on location, the former manor house and ruin of Nettleham Hall in Lincolnshire. The responses made at this location act as an experiential inquiry into the communication of absence, trace and the phenomenologically experienced.
We experience absence and trace through ourselves, our consciousness and in particular, awareness of the senses. The perception of architectural space involves the body as an entirety, as Merleau-Ponty suggests in The Phenomenology of Perception. When we perceive space and place, all our senses are affected. Through awareness of the senses our bodies react physically and emotionally to the ruin, this reaction is felt through mediation of the body with that particular place. The felt sense of absence and trace is possible through the body’s reaction and interaction to the space that is particular to the ruin. It can also be felt through the presence of the remaining space and through the body’s keen awareness in detecting the way jagged natural light moves through curious open crevices and surfaces within the buildings’ remaining structure. ‘We are forever in the here, and it is from that our experiences take place,’ the here, being the present. It is through the body that multiple sensory information such as; vision, touch, sound, smell and taste interact with the environment around us. It is ‘through our senses that we receive stimuli from the environment and can convey them to the brain.’
Each architectural place has an individual existence. The live film and sound recordings for trace were made on location at Nettleham Hall. Capturing and recording duration and time within multiple spaces, the recordings have contributed to a heightened sense of experiential quality of the ruin. This has enabled Annie to explore through experiential and experimental improvised sound using a tenor and alto saxophone. By using improvisation, the essence of the place in atmosphere, history and spatial architectural elements was transformed into sound. Through its intuitive approach, this method of working produces a unique and profound understanding, engaging with essence and nuances. Improvisation gave an immediate as opposed to mediated connection, one that conspired to unify all aspects. As a reaction to the ontology of space and sound within the ruin of the Hall, Clem made film recordings that responded directly to Annie’s live improvised sound. The film recordings act to mediate a discourse between sound, absence and trace. Based on the functions attributed to the Hall the visual and sound piece forms a universal presence that then refers back to this place, through art installation.
Key Words:
Phenomenology, lens based media, sound, response, trace, absence, ruin, collaboration, practice, research
