Signal Chain — Episode 8
Welcome to the eighth episode of Signal Chain. This pop-up newsletter is a creative collaboration between generative musician Duncan Geere and photographer Oliver Holms.
We’re taking turns to send new work to each other. Each new piece is inspired by the piece before. We’re building a chain of influence together and you’re along for the ride. New installments are released on the 1st and 15th of every month, and you can unsubscribe at any time using the link in the footer.
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Hi Duncan,
It’s late — I’m standing at my desk in the dark and I’m trying to balance the need to write something coherent, with an almost overwhelming desire to go to bed. Onwards!
I think that your last track might be my favourite yet. It’s delicate, gentle and calming — attributes that seem in short supply at the moment. There’s something restorative about it. When I listen to it, I feel the sharp edges inside my mind soften, my muscles relax and my awareness expand.
Last Friday, I got my dog ready for his afternoon walk and opened my front door onto the walkway outside my flat. I was met with a full rainbow that filled my field of view, set against clouds reflecting the setting sun. Before leaving the flat, I’d been worrying about the edit from my previous job and the preparations for my next shoot. When I took in the scene in front of me, its immensity and beauty knocked me back into the present. For the first few minutes I just smiled dumbly and gawped at it, then I started to take pictures. The colours were so rich and distinct that it felt hyperreal, almost artificial, a rift in my default reality. The worry and sadness of the last few weeks melted away and I tried to savour the resulting weightlessness. After a few more minutes, Woolly started to whine. My attempts to capture a visual memento were beginning to test both his bladder and his patience. I snapped a few more compositions, still smiling like an idiot, and we went along our way.
There’s no concrete connection between this story, these pictures and your music. But, when I listen to your track, I feel some of the weightlessness that I felt looking out at the rainbow from the walkway, and it feels good.
Oliver.
P.S. I find music helpful in trying times and this exquisite album of Haitian Dances has been giving me a lot of pleasure since I discovered it a couple of weeks ago. It reminds me that the sun is coming.
P.P.S I think that the first picture is stronger and is my ‘proper’ submission, but I couldn’t resist showing the rainbow in all it’s glory, so I snuck in the extra pic at the end…
