Lava and light
It’s not every day I meet a Volcanologist, so bumping into Dr Martin Mangler at a party was somewhat of an unexpected delight. We found we had complementary desires — his to do something arty, ours to do something science-y — and a shared desire to work with communities and story.
At the time he was working with Professor Jenni Barclay at the University of East Anglia. She has a close, ongoing relationship with Montserrat in the Caribbean, the people of the island and the Soufrière Hills volcano that dominates it. Following discussions, we were excited to be commissioned by her to create two artworks: Flow and Nest, both with community voice and the experience of the Soufrière Hills eruptions at their core.
Flow is a 3-metre-tall dynamic light installation that sits at the heart of a large volcano-shaped display structure, working with an audio experience that uses seismic recordings and the voices of Montserratians to recount the story of the volcano. This was made to stay permanently on the island as an educational tool.
Nest is a somewhat surreal nest of four tables, each holding a talking object corrupted by volcanic ash. Its inspiration came from the many photographs of the island after the eruption — shocking images of intimate domestic spaces invaded by ash, buildings buried, and lives turned upside-down. The piece represents this meeting of the awful and the domestic. The multiple tables reference the different ways that lives are affected and the chain of islands that Montserrat sits within.
The largest of these tables holds an attention-grabbing mini volcano, the next a radio, then a phone and finally a walkie talkie. All of these are interactive, and most contain the voices of Montserratians telling their own personal stories of eruption and beyond.
The mini volcano was intended as a playful and quirky piece that rumbles and smokes to draw passers-by into a deeper conversation about eruption and the island. It models the physical features of a volcano, of ash and pyroclastic flow, but the sound developed for the piece brought an unexpected power. Through interpreting seismic data, we made audible the sound of a subterranean earthquake miles under the earth. The eery muffled rumbles and booms bring the piece to life, making it haunting and ominous, and grounds the listener in a better appreciation of the massive forces that drive eruption.
The most interactive object is the radio. People are invited to turn the dial, tuning in and out of the collected voices, stories, calypso music and poems related to living with a volcano. What seems to be a light-hearted piece soon goes beyond entertainment. The music mirrors the harrowing spoken accounts of eruption, but more, it underlines the role of the arts in this context, giving hope, comfort, a sense of relief and therapy. All of this is expressed in a culture known for its candid social commentary through calypso, as well as a very lively and embedded self-expression though writing. As was said of the poems of the time:
‘The language of the heart is your mother tongue’
– Gertrude Shotte
The telephone is, by its nature, a more intimate object. One person holds the receiver as if to listen to distant relative. A voice tells of living in communal shelters, staying and leaving the island, longing to return, and lives forged in distant lands. This piece draws out the wisdom and humility gained from reflecting on a long and difficult journey.
Many scientists have gathered knowledge of eruption, but is there an understanding? What could these massive subterranean forces sound like deep inside the earth? How do these experiences shape and enrich a culture’s music and storytelling heritage? What are the realities of building a life all over again? What is it like to actually experience a massive but silent pyroclastic flow, the weight and colour of ash transforming a lush green landscape to a grey moonscape overnight?
Initially we envisaged Flow and Nest being eye-catching and engaging pieces, but we hope that together with the Montserratian community, Jenni’s team, Martin and others, we have been able to make meaningful works that communicate a more rounded understanding of eruption, one that celebrates the endurance, resilience, creativity and spirit of the Montserratian community.