I was delighted to hear from the National Library of Wales, based in Aberystwyth, that they have commissioned from me a short new work inspired by their incredible archive of interviews.
The new work will be inspired by a collection of conversations had with workers of the Forestry Commission who had recently retired - this is such a wonderful chance to connect with my past through sound and music!
I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity from the NLW and I can’t wait to see how the project progresses.
How does sound effect our memory of a place? How does time warp the way we recall the past?
The Story of the Forest is a collection of interviews with people involved in the early years of the Forestry Commission in Wales - growing organically from conversations, this collection details the lives of those that built, ploughed, and planted Wales’ natural history.
_fiint is a response to the first interview of this collection with W. L ‘Jock’ Low and Caroline Earwood - in this conversation Jock reflects on both his time in the Forestry Commission’s infancy and his experiences as an engineer in India, Burma and British Malaya.
Fragments of the interview are shattered into endlessly repeating threads as if heard through a prism; the effect is of a seemingly infinite recurring moment just on the cusp of memory. The sound space ebbs and flows...the rushing of waves...sharp whiplash after a dream.
Caroline asks “Did you find it difficult coming back to Wales? It must have been very different.”
Jock replies “Well. Once you’ve lived in so many places and so many different temperatures and conditions...another place is another place. You fit in quickly.”