Lamentation Reflections: lamentation six

December 15, 2022 David May

This blog first appeared as a section of a post on my patreon. To see the pieces discussed, and the concluding restoration section of the project, sign up here. (No tiered subscriptions, pay what you want.)

lamentation six

papier mâché and arm

This piece is the most personal of the six laments. So much so that the Bible used is the Bible I had as a teenager.

The work alludes to the deep place faith has in my life, The Bible literally becoming part of my veins and nervous system throughout the performance. Alongside this, the sounds used are intended to reflect the use of religion to oppress. The text is taken out of cultural and narrative context, and the humanity has been removed by having them spoken by a machine. This audio is then further distorted through digital processes removing it further and further from its original intention.

At the end of the piece, the paper mâché ‘veins’ are ripped from my arm, stopping the voices. This is a reflection of how removing faith and religion would remove its misuse and oppression. However, it would also remove something at the core of who I am.

This final act is intentionally shocking, and visually alludes to self-harm. Whilst working on the piece I thought long and hard over whether to add a content warning to the video. I’m happy with how the piece works and feel it has the potential to be a powerful piece.

Alice Fraser recently wrote about trigger warnings and reflected on the difficulty of providing an appropriate warning to those needing one, whilst not ruining the art in the process. I feel the shock value of the final act in this piece is part of what makes it powerful. As I sat with the final video, I felt that the piece was less triggering that the concept had been in my mind. With this in mind I chose to leave its description simple and non-descript like the rest of the laments. Although if feedback on the piece were to change my perception of this I would of course reconsider that.

This is the final reflection on the six lamentation pieces. If you’ve enjoyed hearing these and would like to see the second restoration section it will be made available to my patreons first. You can subscribe here.

Lamentation Reflections: lamentation five

December 8, 2022 David May

lamentation five

ceramic, broken

lamentation five was easily the longest work to create. The subtle white shading on the side of the ceramic is the result of months of sanding.

My original intention was to sand down the jar far enough for the side to have the same rough unglazed texture as the unglazed centre which is exposed along the cracks. I actually prefer how this has turned out, the sanded areas give a third visual texture alongside the glazed jar and exposed cuts.

The piece is linked closely to lamentation three, both drawing on broken pottery as a metaphor for human tragedy. But where three created a hypothetical and generalised form, here there is a specific physical item. Many of the laments have unintentionally created pairs like this; three and five are a generalised and specific broken ceramic, one and six are generalised and personal pieces involving the destruction of a Bible. two and four break this trend and work purely as standalone pieces.

This is the penultimate of six reflections on the lamentation pieces. I’ll be positing the final reflection here next week. If you’d like to read it now, it’s already been made available to my patreons here.

Lamentation Reflections: lamentation four

December 1, 2022 David May

lamentation four

canvas and mixed mediums

This piece began with the idea of loss, specifically loss of potential. That a possible outcome or future has been destroyed or removed from someone, not by choices they’ve made but by things done to them.

A canvas is one of the basic starting points in art, like a writer’s blank page. Here the canvas has been defaced with paint smeared across its surface. While this destruction could almost be unintentional, the tea stains, coffee stains and handprints reflect a deliberate human intervention. It was important to me that the piece reflect an element of human decision within its destruction. And tools and paint tubes have been left attached to the canvas, their removal now carrying the potential of further damage.

The slashes across the canvas are reminiscent of Lucio Fontana’s Spatial Concept ‘Waiting’. And like Fontana’s work there is a paradox at play; the destruction of the canvas has in itself created a new piece of art. This idea builds on the landing point of lamentation three, that the scars and marks on a jar make it unique. Reflecting on lamentation four this has stuck out to me and feels relevant that the real loss and destruction this art alludes to often creates our present. That is to say; I wouldn’t be me without the pain in my past, the lost opportunities, as well as the positives.

This is the fourth of six reflections on the lamentation pieces. I’ll be posting the final ones here over the next month. If you’d like to read them now, they’ve already been made available to my patreons here.

Lamentation Reflections: lamentation three

November 24, 2022 David May

lamentation three

lamentation three was written with lamentation five in mind. I had already begun creating five, which turned out to be a long process, and the idea of broken pottery was close to mind. The use of ceramics and earthenware as a metaphor for the body is one used within Lamentations and other ancient city laments (e.g. The Lament for Sumer and Urim).

I received feedback from Bath Spa’s Open Score Lab on an early version of this piece which was invaluable. One change that resulted from this was the breaking of the piece into two sections. The first draft felt like it wasn’t sure if it wanted to be poetry or text score. The final piece has a more poetic first section. Then, alongside the line about a break in the jar, the poetical rhythm also ‘breaks’ and is replaced with a blunter list of instructions.

This piece ends with a reflection that the jar is made unique by its flaws. And this is a theme I later explored further in lamentation four.

I’ve been asked if I had a specific jar I was describing in this piece. And while I was working on lamentation five at the time, I chose to describe a hypothetical/general broken jar instead. Hopefully the piece works well standing alone, without the need of physical object attached to it.

This is the third of six reflections on the lamentation pieces, the rest will continue to be posted over the next couple of months. If you’d like to read them now, they’ve already been made available to my patreons here.

Lamentation Reflections: lamentation two

November 10, 2022 David May

lamentation two

for bowed sting instrument and piano

My original inspiration for lamentation two was mix of the coronavirus pandemic and anxiety. Throughout the pandemic I was struck by the repetition of see the same rooms, interspersed with brief moments of respite. I combined this with a rising background tension to create the structure of this piece.

It was during the creation of this piece that I decided to perform all the works in this project myself. At first I played both string and piano parts in lamentation two for simplicity, it was just easier than finding performers. But over the course of recording a personal link to these pieces developed, and I feel like they would be different if performed by someone else. Once the project is completed, I may look to have them recorded by someone else to see the comparison. But for the original iteration, and on Patreon, it became important to me that I am the performer as well as composer.

Interestingly, reactions to this piece have often spoken of it being meditative or relaxing. The string glissando contains enough changes in pitch and timbre to ground the listener in the moment, but also is unchanging enough to remain a background feature. Creating an atmosphere that is punctured by comparatively clear piano chords.

I’ll be continuing to post my reflections on the lamentation pieces here over the next few months. If you’d like to read them now, they’ve already been made available to my patreons here.

Lamentation Reflections: lamentation one

October 27, 2022 David May

lamentation one

for bible, ink and candle

This piece was inspired by a practice within evangelical Christian tradition of underlining passages of scripture that are important or relevant whilst reading. The section of the Bible used is Lamentations, and the words being underlined are ones that have particular emotional weight. This process is made intentionally messy by using a pot of ink, as opposed to a pencil or ball point pen.

Throughout the piece, wax is dripping from a candle above. As time passes the act of underlining becomes more difficult as wax covers the page, pen and hand. The candle is made from low temperature wax, designed for body contact, but the lack of clarity on this within the context of the piece creates an implication of pain.

I’ve been asked if this piece is political in nature, as it contains the destruction of a holy text. I don’t view this as an anti-religious work and, as I’ve said, the concept is closely linked to my own experiences within Christianity. I view this work, in one sense, as an artistic manifestation of the message of Lamentations. However, in contrast to lamentation six, which also features the destruction of a Bible, this piece is a generalised reflection. The Bible used is a King James translation, which I chose because of its importance within wider British culture. This first lamentation piece still has personal elements, but the piece is more a general reflection on society’s grief and lamentation following a major event.

I’ll be continuing to post my reflections on the lamentation pieces here over the next few months. If you’d like to read them now, they’ve already been made available to my patreons here.

Lamentation Reflections: An Introduction

October 12, 2022 David May

Six pieces in, half way through lamentations and restorations, the lamentation portion of the project completed. This seemed like a good time to pause and reflect on all the pieces produced so far. I’ll discuss each piece in turn but first, here are some general observations on the whole project and process.

As I started the series, forefront in my mind was the effect of the coronavirus pandemic. I’ve had many conversations discussing the loss felt during the pandemic. For some this was loss of friends and family, but wider than that there was a loss of time, education and opportunities. I’ve been very aware of the grief that has yet to be processed. In many ways, this set of works is a reflection of that grief.

What I didn’t expect was that a project that began as a reflection of our wider communities, would become a sort of self-portrait. In lamentation one there are elements that were personal to me, but the piece was grounded within our wider culture and society. By the time we reach lamentation six the works have become a deeply personal reflection on the place of religion and faith in my life. Some of these pieces I see as generalised with elements of self-reflection within them. Others are self-portraits with elements of wider context within.

I’ve deliberately released each piece with very little explanation, preferring to let the pieces speak for themselves. When people have spoken to me about the meaning they’ve found within them, there has often been elements I had not intended when I wrote them. On each occasion there’s been something so good that it has become part of my own interpretation of the pieces as well. I find art is rarely static and has the ability for its place and meaning in our lives to adapt as we grow and change. It’s been an exciting part of sharing these pieces that their meaning for me has done that over the course of the project.

I’ll be continuing to post my reflections on the lamentation pieces here over the next few months. If you’d like to read them now, they’ve already been made available to my patreons here.

Lamentations and Restorations

December 30, 2021 David May

It’s been a interesting couple of years.

Everything has been uncertain and chaotic. I, like all of us, am leaving 2020/21 with lots to process. Like stepping off a roller-coaster, the experience has only just hit us; I’m sure it will take a while to properly work through the highs and lows and that bit where it was upside down.

So as I’m doing that, I’ve set up a project of work: Lamentations and Restorations. This series of works will be produced over the next year, and released via Patreon. The intention is not to create pieces directly about the pandemic or the last few years. Instead, I am writing things inspired by a variety of laments and restoration projects. By nature of timing I’m sure there will be links regardless of intention, but hopefully the work produced will remain interesting and relevant beyond COVID-19.

The Patreon is set up as a pay what you want model. You can choose your monthly payment to match your current financial situation and what you feel it’s worth. All money will go to supporting me as I create more music, art and research. All support is appreciated and during this project there won’t be tiered access, if you’re supporting me financially in any way you’ll have full access to Lamentations and Restorations.

I’ll be releasing something every month, starting on the 1st January 2022. This will vary from month to month. It may be a score, a recorded performance, something else entirely. But over the course of the year there will be twelve works released, possibly more.

During this time, these will only be released on Patreon. At the end of the year the Patreon may continue on to a second project, or end. The work hosted there may be released publicly, but just as likely it’ll remain private only seen by those who were part of supporting the project. I don’t know how the work will develop, and which of these options will feel like the right ending to the project. Either way those supporting the Patreon will be involved in the decision making process.

I’m excited to be creating work and releasing it once again. I hope those of you who feel able to support the project will also enjoy the results.

Lamentations and Restorations can be found at www.patreon.com/composerdavidmay