[June 5th 2002]
Article

James Moores The Aeolian Harp

The Sounds of the Wind
- An account of a 'picnic' taking place by the Aeolian Harp by artist James Moores on the roof of the building Fisken, Cph. Part of The Contemplation Room Project 24.5-23.6 2002. Text by Kristina Ilsøe

Fisken
Copenhagen
www.contemplation.dk

The UFO
The UFO-like construction placed on the roof of 'Fisken' is a wind-harp.

"I've always had this idea of a harp like a weel you could stand in the middle of, with all the strings radiating away from you," the visiting British artist James Moores explains.



Patience is needed, it's a sculpture that can best be enjoyed in relaxed and quiet moments, since the wind must be there, and the ear is challenged to ignore the competing city-sounds. We have heard the wind before, wind in the trees, wind shaping waves etc. but the tunable strings of the harp mediates the sounds in an unusually subtle and beautiful way. Placing your ear close to the small holes in the center, the audiative experience unfolds, and once being tuned in, you can lay down and focus on the wind, looking at the sky.

The bypassing Angel
The Angel was the performance by visiting German artist Janne Schäfer. She made sure our mouths wouldn't dry out, by spraying us with schnaps, and she fed us with doughnuts. A by-passing tourist thought we had a wedding, a baptism, a cult meeting or some traditional spiritual meeting going on. When he realised that this was a performance meant to draw attention to the harp, he joined the crowd. His comments pointed at the fragility of such happenings taking place in public spaces. It really is hard to make an inclusive participatory event, but the angel made a helpful announcement. She welcomed us and explained that we did this thing to communicate with creatures from different realms:

"The harp is channelling sounds from spirits from outer space. Something that comes from the invisible, the beyound. We can hear the wind, which is the transmitter of those playing the harp. And then we have all those animal pipes here, so that we can start communicating with the animals, maybe even attract some. -And the doughnuts, to attract people."

The Poet
A friend of James Moores once made a harp, attempting to levitate a piece of rock, and the idea of relating the harp to flying is very striking. Apart from its shape, the placement of the harp on the roof of 'the Fish', gives the impression of a landing-lane, of something ready for take-off. And that we did, at least in a spiritual sense, guided by poems read by the artist.

A pleasant voice read out loud from passages of 'The City of Longing' by Poul Auster, and other pieces. I heard something about flying, wings and erotic passages mixing with the sounds of the wind-harp. The crowd would join the soundsscapes between the readings, immitating or communicating with the birds that the seeds were supposed to attract. One big seagle passed the center of the harp, and the setting somehow seemed complete, I closed my eyes and gave in to a very pleasant moment of contemplation.

The Eaolian Harp is placed on top of Fisken, the long building next to Den Sorte Diamant, through-out June. It is also possible to visit the harp at night. Jane and James will also make another happening at the setting to be announced later.

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