The Immersive Power of Light: Nine Minutes With Chris Levine
Chris Levine, who previously collaborated with Kate Moss, Grace Jones and Massive Attack, is about to unveil his new work - a spectacular immersive sound and light installation which is set to become one of the iconic events that form the Root 1066 International Festival in Hastings, UK.
The opening of the The iy_Project:The nature of sound and light will take place on Saturday 10 September on Hastings’ Pier during the opening weekend of the arts festival celebrating 950 years since the Norman Conquest.
Canadian-born Levine will collaborate with renowned sound designer Marco Perry to create a spectacular experience that reflects our, now peaceful, connection to Normandy and our French neighbours. Simultaneously, lasers will be beamed across the channel towards St Valery - from where the Norman fleet set sail - in a symbolic invitation to our French neighbours to join in the celebrations and festivities.
Chris, talk us through your planned ‘immersive sound and light installation’ for the Root 66 festival -what was the brief and how have you met that?
I’m fascinated with the present moment - its all there is yet its a difficult place to remain for long. We’re usually thinking of the past or what we think is going to happen in the future, but to be in the here and now is a gift we should all cherish. Meditation is the key and I’ve found that immersing your senses in sound and light, laser light in particular, one can attain brief moments between thoughts and its during these moments something re calibrates and harmonises us with what is - not what we want to be. The brief has been fairly open but in that trust is a huge challenge. The work we are doing with the iy_project is the antithesis of conflict and a celebration of the natural wonder of life on Earth.
Have you visited the new pier in Hastings?
Yes I have and it was a thrill. The sea is so powerful an element and when you consider how little of the ocean has actually been explored it holds great mysteries. The pier puts you face to face with the raw power of the sea.
What are the benefits and difficulties of the location?
Just to stand on the pier and feel the wind and sense the power of the sea - how can I compete with that? At least it will be dark and no one will see much else but laser - a lot of laser..!!
The sound is a crucial aspect of the work we’re doing and depending on the weather, the noise of the wind may well overpower some of the more subtle layers of the soundscape. I say soundscape and not music because it is primarily the energy of sound at certain frequencies that informs the work. Music is too structured and familiar in its format that it can hold back the experiential and sensory nature of the sound as energy.
I can only imagine that to be on the pier and exposed to such natural forces of the wind and sea will add to the natural dimension of the work. We are using the solfeggio scale of sound which is said to correlate to the energy nodes [chakras] in the body. By tuning laser light forms that the audience will be inside, to these curious sounds, will evoke a meditative state of being if just for moments. To meditate is to get closer to the source of creation and just a momentary state can bring about well being.
Any views on the historical/iconic nature of the subject matter?
Its wonderful that the pier, such an entity of the past, has been brought back to contemporary life. I think its been done sensitively and with grace.
You’re UK-based but born in Canada. What does that tell us about who you are, and how is that reflected in your work?
Not sure what if anything… I was born in Canada but to English and Scottish parents and if anything, having travelled and moved around a bit too much, then perhaps this is at the core of my need to find stillness through my work. I see stillness as a portal to something expansive and divine and a piece of retreat inside. Increasingly meditation informs my work.
How did you come to be a laser artist?
For my thesis at Art School I was looking into creative holography and finding due to the highly technical nature of the process it was largely a laboratory exercise and not accessible as an expressive art form. I gradually became more interested in the lasers used to make holograms - the laser is the purest form of light available to man - single frequencies of EMF that with the invention of the laser we can observe and interact with this pure light. For me the laser is the medium, but its all about the experience.
Light is an energy and with laser we are dealing with a very pure form of that energy which is fundamental to the mechanics of life.
You’ve done some amazing collaborations. Massive Attack, Grace Jones. Does who you work with make a difference to how you feel about your work?
With a collaboration bringing together different but complimentary talents, the work can go in so many new directions, The iy_project is a collaborative journey into the nature of light and sound and how they can become just beautifully beyond words and in essence healing. I do get affirmation that I’m not a cadet lost in space but getting into something very interesting when real talent is drawn to the work.
Tell us a little about your upcoming projects
Next year is already shaping into some exciting potential. The iy_project at the Eden Project over the winter season is exciting because thats where it was born and the visionary place that it is takes us into the future. I have portraits in development of some very interesting individuals and following on from the success of the Bowie tribute at Glastonbury with the iy_project I want to take it further - deeper into the space within. It was an amazing thing to do and a milestone on our journey with the iy_project so it would be wonderful to develop it further on that site.
For all the latest news and information on the 1066 event go to www.1066contemporary.com, like the Facebook page ‘ROOT1066’ or follow ‘ROOT1066’ on Twitter and Instagram
