WATER - METAPHOR FOR CREATIVE POTENTIAL

A while ago, I tried to tackle the difficult task of setting images to my first piece of music. I didn't want the imagery to compete with the music, so it had to be quite simple. In the end I decided upon some footage I had of waves crashing on the shore in Aberystwyth. To my dismay, the technical quality wasn't quite up to scratch. Granted my camera doesn't take fantastic videos but this was worse than I expected. The reason seems to be that water has complicated nuances and shades, that are forever changing, and the camera simply cannot keep up with this kind of fluid subject matter. I thought I could cover it all up during the processing phase but after a few day's work I was still dissatisfied.

I did a great deal to the footage in cutting out the best pieces and applying subtle effects, and though I can now see that it inspired creative solutions, it was still a disheartening process. I also had to endure terribly long rendering times due to heavy effects, so it took forever to see the results of my changes. Anyhow... I just didn't want to give up and in the end decided to publish my efforts in a smaller format. The round shape was actually Martin's idea (he was desperate to have me finish the excruciating process that I got him involved in too). However, I had had this thought at the back of my mind for some time that I should consider using new shapes for my photographs. It's not easy to decide to lose a lot of your footage, so I just had to be hard on my inclination to keep it all! It is what it is technically speaking - my hands are tied for lack of funds.

The End is a New Beginning from Vivi-Mari Carpelan on Vimeo.

I've been thinking about water a great deal lately, as it's close to my own heart for a whole host of reasons, but is also one of the most powerful yet simple symbols there is. Water is probably the most primordial symbol of creative potential and its manifestation, of the unconscious as well as its expression through emotions and intuition. Many cultures have imagined that life started out as a sea without light, not unlike our existence in the womb. As the eternally recurring cycle of death, rebirth and regeneration is contained in this symbol, the footage and how I have presented it, as well as the music, reflects the idea of change and transition to a new state or level of being.

Themes that have always spoken to me, and that I now find myself resurrecting, are -
creativity and its origin
dualism and how to transcend it through paradoxes
natural and spontaneous versus unnatural and inhibited
the limitlessness of spirit versus the limitations of human life
the nature of the subconscious mind and how it relates to the consciousness
the cycles of existence, eternal recurrence and evolution
and lately also
individual consciousness/unconscious in relation to collective consciousness/unconscious

- all themes to do with the fabric of existence that no doubt interest only a select few, though I think it really should interest everyone! At university, I got bored studying modern philosophy and only found satisfaction when I started to dig into all this kind of stuff.

This project will no doubt be followed by more water-related projects. Please see my previous blog post for more musings about water in the sixth soundscape for Music for Liminal Times.