Fringe Review: Plant Songs: Sound Bath in the Celestial Gardens
Posted on: Mon 22 Mar 2021
Unroll your yoga mat, exhale and be transported into the ethereal world of the plant kingdom with Plant Songs: Sound Bath in the Celestial Gardens.
Inspired by theories from Christopher Bird’s 1970’s Secret World of Plants, Sacred Resonance’s Darren Curtis and Bradley Pitt transformed the noise of a bustling cityscape into the delicate and otherworldly sounds of plants communicating.
This delightfully fascinating show was yet another made possible by merging the spheres of art and science. Motivated by working with frequencies that create harmony in body and mind, Curtis and Pitt cleverly combined their 20 years’ experience with sacred sounds, musicology and the esoteric to deliver another round of plant music as part of Adelaide Fringe.
Before surrendering to the mystical soundscape under the night sky, Curtis provided some further insight. By using a range of circuits, both electrical data and patterns would be extracted from the surface of the leaf and converted to sounds and musical ratios, allowing five separate plants to become the symphonic orchestra for the night.
The balmy evening and gentle wind set a relaxing tone. Above, the night sky winked with a few distant stars. Deep, gliding sounds of Tibetan and crystal singing bowls gave way to gentle chimes as the processes within the plants became amplified. Over an hour, the soundscape moved through an expressive array of variations revealing secrets within this hidden world. Unique sounds shifted and reshaped, resonating what could be likened to angelic hums, gentle rings, and relaxing percussions of Buddhist meditation chimes. At one point, this elaborate symphony inspired thoughts of tiny fairies in crystal slippers dancing delicately over a glass floor. The calming chitter chatter between plants rose and fell to create a deeply meditative experience.
Beautiful artwork by Jessica Curtis offered another layer to the evening. A merge of colours and spiritual images, interlaced with gold patterns continued the celestial theme, particularly as she channelled her creative brush work to canvas while bathed in the sounds of the plants.
Plant Songs: Sound Bath in the Celestial Gardens indeed offered a brilliant and enriching, relaxing experience, which shifted the focus beyond our understanding and perception of reality. One is left wondering what other insights sound can provide into the hidden kingdoms beyond current consciousness.
Audio pending
By Emma Wotzke
Image supplied by Sacred Resonance
