This is the 5th and last in a series - the focus of all on breathing life into downtown Nelson: turning beige apathy into exciting experience - exciting at any time of the day and year! Simply by applying bright color in paint and light.
Destination: Nelson! (Part 1)
6 Sep, 2014
Destination: Nelson! (Part 2) - Festival of Lights
13 Sep, 2014
Destination: Nelson! (Part 3) - The (Extra)Ordinary
24 Sep, 2014
Destination: Nelson! (Part 4) - (Trans)Formation
4 Oct, 2014
The preceding posts have largely been looking at downtown-lighting - particularly important as Nelson pretty much turns it and itself off - period - by about 7pm: thereby missing-out on an opportunity to engage tourists and locals late into the evening. An alive environment providing a much-needed go-to destination - with sustainable economic benefits for the city.
Appropriate core-lighting comprises: street-lighting during much of the year needed am/pm; festive lighting; highlighting architectural aspects. No break-down into special-purpose functions necessary - if the design as a whole is exceptionally inclusive: for a Nelson alive 24/7!
Downtown - literally the heart of the matter and darkness - now remains curiously unaddressed by the Sustainable Waterfront and Downtown Master Plan. Anyplace but - the planned Hall St. appendix just more unremarkable sameness - while downtown should be the center of (re)development from which all else radiates outward.
For the day color must be provided with paint - this after dark complemented by/complementing lighting. What with daytime downtown-dinginess much of the year: the need for a more stimulating environment is crucial during the day as well as in the evening. As simplistic as it may sound: color via any medium can make that happen.
Tanya Tagaq - an Inuit throat-singer - recently wins the Polaris Prize for Animism as best Canadian album - period - of the year. Much of her work - while structured - is intuitive-improvisational and often performed a capella. She does not read/write music in the traditional sense.
The Kronos Quartet is a US-based chamber ensemble - best known for its work with minimalist/new music written by outside composers. While members are highly disciplined, accomplished "professionally trained" musicians - their work often is improvisational/interpretive in collaborative efforts with musicians from other genres and performers of/in varying disciplines.
When Tagaq and Kronos decide to collaborate on creating a piece of music - Tagaq its center - they need to establish a language which allows them to "technically" structure musically - without the traditionally accepted means she is unfamiliar with.
So Kronos devise a very basic musical language "written" on individual same-size sheets of paper: single dots of different colors in their center.
They lay-out these sheets side-by-side and discuss with Tagaq the order they might be in musically for the piece they all are about to give life. Relating to color emotionally/intuitively - Tagaq immediately wants blue and black placed next to each other and red at the very end because that's when I freak out!
The piece they create is Nunavut - available on:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjoLZZYASpg
The expressive quality of a soprano coloratura in usually operatic works is very light-fluttery-florid - probably the extreme opposite of Tagaq's bare-footed Urmensch style. Coloratura stems from the Latin colorare: to color.
Holi is an annual festival in India and today much of the world: a time of renewal and shared good-times - rekindling the warmth in relationships neglected too long or gone cold and celebrating the coming of spring in all its explosiveness after dull winter.
This awakening of all alive symbolized in everybody using all colors possible to throw at each other - dry/wet and washing-off later - while wandering along the streets in groups playing music, singing and dancing.
Color
of
Sound
of
Color
Imagine the awakening power, influence color can have on Baker Street, downtown, Nelson-as-a-whole and the emotions of people there - so busy-busy-busy! that they can't wait for street-lights to change!
Images:
mvrdv hometown
mangotomato.com
No comments:
Post a Comment