 |
 |
What is Arising Phoenix?
Arising Phoenix is a unique Syncretic art experience integrating visual art, music, theatre, mythology and archaeology. Arising Phoenix integrates the dramatic assembly of a sound sculpture installation with exciting percussion music played upon found objects, haunting vocalizations andmovement.
Full performances — for art galleries, museums and theatres — captivate audiences with the absorbing assembly of the phoenix sculpture, hypnotic arias for voice and bells and a rousing chorus of drums.
Excerpt performances — for special events, festivals and transient audiences — present the sculpture already assembled; and feature compelling music for bells and percussion.
"Wonderful... The vocal and percussion combination is haunting. The sculpture itself is visually stunning and evocative. Great to see such non-precious material come to life! The performance was ritualistic. It would be fascinating to see and hear in the moonlight." Michael Burtch, Director/ Curator, Art Gallery of Algoma, Sault Ste. Marie, Canada
In a mesmerizing ceremony of sight and sound a magnificent phoenix arises before your eyes. Exciting percussion music played upon sculptural objects, haunting vocalizations and movement leave audiences transfixed in wonderment, rooted to the spot: compelled, fascinated and intrigued. The performance is like a ritual, a magical ceremony during which the artists appear to be like vultures who are mulling over the bones of the dead phoenix in order to release its soul for the next life.
How long is the whole experience?
- Full performance: forty-five (45) minutes
- Excerpt performance: fifteen (15) minutes
- Interaction sessions: fifteen – thirty (15 – 30) minutes, depending on venue requirements
What is the target audience? For what age range is this work appropriate?
Arising Phoenix is ideal for event programming and suitable for all ages. Visit our Press Gallery for comments from visitors of all ages, presenters, curators and the media.
Performances are not recommended for children under the age of four. The towering sound sculpture, the performers and the unusual sounds can seem frightening. However, these youngsters are often curious and enjoy exploring the sculpture during the Audience Interaction Sessions.
How do people respond to Arising Phoenix?
Audiences of all ages are mesmerized, transfixed, delighted, amazed and enchanted.
Audiences of all ages enjoy Arising Phoenix. Adults and children alike are equally transfixed during these enchanting sonic and visual encounters. Arising Phoenix draws upon mythic and archetypal imagery. Primal symbols embody universal truths which resonate in people of all ages and cultures. Visit our Press Gallery for comments from visitors of all ages, presenters, curators and the media.Adult audiences, stimulated by this synthesis of differing art forms, appreciate the more sophisticated elements; the many tangents open to exploration entice one to reflect upon the allegories and multiple layers of meaning encompassed by the works. Arising Phoenix is a living archeological exhibit which stimulates discussion.
Teenagers relate to the connections between the phoenix and the many environmental, political, cultural and social issues. Arising Phoenix is also an example of creative recycling and encourages a personal responsibility to the planet as a living organism.
Grade school children respond physically and emotionally: bopping and grooving to pulsating rhythms; grinning, laughing, taunting and then cowering from the performers. Children relate to issues of creative recycling, environmental protection and cross-cultural awareness.
What happens during the Audience Interaction sessions?
The artists chat with the audience, discuss the symbol of the phoenix in mythology and as it pertains to environmental, political, cultural and social issues. The artists also explain how and why the sculpture was created, and where they have exhibited and performed the work.
The audience is then invited to interact with the sculpture: walk around the sound sculpture for a closer look; try to identify each object used in the creation of the sound sculpture. The Question and Answer period may be formal or informal depending on the setting.
The artists may also provide mallets (drum sticks) so that people may make music upon the sculpture themselves.
Following performances, the artists like to invite local musicians and dancers of host countries to improvise with them and the sculpture for an impromptu collaboration. This is usually very popular with everyone.
What is Arising Phoenix about?
In Egyptian mythology vultures pick clean the bones of the phoenix and release its soul for rebirth. In Arising Phoenix the artists adopt a similar role infusing soul into the bones of the sculpture, inspiring rebirth through compelling performances.
Arising Phoenix may be seen as an environmental work, symbol of personal recovery; social change; positive and negative action in the world; the recurrent circles of life and death. Or simply be regarded as a fantastic magical creature in a spectacular entertaining contemporary art experience. The "meaning" of the work is totally open. Nor does it matter if it means anything at all. What does matter is that it makes people feel . . . that it has an impact. And it does.
Arising Phoenix addresses the fate of our planet, which has suffered more environmental damage in the past hundred years than in the entire history of mankind.
What language is used in the performance?
Art, music and performance are universal languages. There are no language barriers because there is no spoken text in Arising Phoenix.
The artists were traveling through Germany when the Berlin Wall came down. They were intrigued to observe the process of reunification and the rebuilding of a country. During the same period the artists traveled through Yugoslavia, then on the brink of war. Hope and despair were wrestling in Europe.
Amanta and David decided to explore the phoenix as a symbol of resurrection and rebirth. Inspired by the myth of the phoenix rising from the ashes, the artists decided to create a work which could be assembled in performance.
The phoenix sound sculpture is created entirely out of found objects culled from rubbish heaps and recycle centres. The phoenix's vast arching wings and tail derive from a gigantic trampoline, bicycle wheel rims, sauce pans, pot-lids, heavy cast metal pots reincarnate into sonorous chimes.
Fundamentally the phoenix is a magical mythical bird, a symbol of love and peace, hope, beauty and harmony.
According to Egyptian mythology, the phoenix despairs at the lack of love and peace in the world; builds itself a funereal pyre, plants the seeds of its rebirth in the pyre and immolates itself at sun down. In the morning vultures pick clean the bones of the phoenix and release its soul for rebirth.
Visit our mythology section to discover the many phoenix legends from around the world.
What is the connection between myth & garbage?
For the artists, delving into the depths of myth is akin to an archaeological dig into the soul. As they comb through the rubbish of a society they learn about the soul of a culture.
Bill Moyers wrote, in The Power of Myth, "Remnants of mythology line the walls of the psyche, like shards of broken pottery in an archaeological site."
In an archaeological dig, one of the most illuminating finds is the Midden, the rubbish heap. The Midden enables archeologists to flesh out an image of the civilization under discovery. A present day Midden or landfill site paints a complex picture of our world today. Ancient myths have little place in today's world; the same is true for garbage. Amanta and David aim to encourage a revaluation of both. The artists had no idea, when they embarked on this quest, that they would find themselves feeling quite so passionately about the environment. They are increasingly saddened and infuriated to discover just how irresponsible and wasteful is society worldwide
In the words of Joseph Campbell: "Myths are clues to the spiritual potentialities of human life". An awareness of ancient myth enables one to see its relevance to something happening in one's own life.
Mulling over the bones of the past, the artists explore parallel global mythologies and the connection of myth to our contemporary world. Their work is a study of our past and present through mythology, archaeology, installation and performance. Since 1991 their Syncretic art exhibitions have focused on mythological themes and archetypal images recreated through rubbish. Visit our mythology section to discover the many dragon legends from around the world.
Has travel influenced the work?
Yes, considerably. Transversing the globe for more than a decade, has led Amanta and David to consider the commonalties between cultures and the divergent interpretations of universal symbols. Travel has led the artists to understand that there is no single absolute truth. Perspective alters reality. Multiple interpretations and meanings reflect the wonderful diversity of this beautiful planet.
The artists have become intrigued with universal symbols and archetypal images which trigger primal feelings, shared everywhere. Through installation and performance, their work examines the political, spiritual, psychological, environmental and/or social significance of parallel global symbols and mythologies.
Selecting images and symbols common to two or more cultures, the artists do not impose any one meaning upon a given symbol but rather invite viewers to find their own meaning in the work before them.
What is Syncretic Art?Syncretic art is the fusion of disparate elements.
The term Syncretic Art was first applied to the work of Amanta Scott and David Tomlinson in Japan. Their work not only integrates disparate conceptual elements but also visual art; audio, video, music - percussion and voice; theatre; movement; mythology and contemporary archaeology.
Syncretic: characterized by syncretism; aiming at a union or reconciliation of diverse beliefs, practices or systems.
Syncretism: attempted union or reconciliation of diverse or opposite tenets or practices, especially in philosophy or religion; specifically the system or principles of a school founded in the 17th century by George Callixtus who aimed at harmonizing the sects of Protestants and ultimately all Christian bodies. [Oxford International Dictionary of the English Language.]
"Syncretism" was also used by Joseph Campbell when referring to the worship of the Goddess as both monotheistic and polytheistic. That is, worshipped under different names and forms but essentially one transcending entity.
© 2000 - 2006 Leading Tone Arts Productions Inc.
Revised: