“When in isolation, I notice that my anxieties and insecurities are amplified. I feel like I am falling into an echo chamber. My thoughts keep ringing over and over again. Over and over again. Until the inevitable decay.
*Sigh* The silence that follows is just as unbearable. So resonant. So fleeting. I am forced to recall the vastness of my existence. Here I stand listening to quiet trees. Wondering when they would fall.”
The Silence of a Falling Tree is an immersive sonic journey that draws inspiration from the existentialist notion of essentiality. Tracks are arranged like a guided meditation; woven with original compositions, instructions, dialogue, Foley, and field recordings.
Participants are to encounter the work at recommended locations, while observing social distancing measures.
From 22 Nov, Sun
Track 1 – THE TREE
Location: Bedroom
Synopsis:
“I am the tree.
Concerned with my breath.
I feel energy coursing through my veins. I am rooted to this body. I can ground myself.
My awareness blooms like petals after the rain.”
Instructions:
1. Find time to be alone in your bedroom.
2. Play the track on your earphones. *
3. Enjoy reconnecting with yourself.
Alternatively, you can also access this track on YouTube.
Music track by Cheryl Ong
Guided by Grace Kalaiselvi
Sound design by Bings Lee
From 29 Nov, Sun:
Track 2 – THE FALLING
Location: Supermarket
Synopsis:
”I am the tree.
Amongst a forest of trees. Concerned with my essentiality.
I feel myself contemplating my worth. I am light and free. I can value myself honestly.
My anxieties fall like shadows of the canopy.”
Instructions:
1. Find time to be in a supermarket, one you regularly go to.
2. Ensure you observe safety regulations.
3. Play the track on your earphones. *
4. Enjoy putting yourself in someone else’s shoes.
Alternatively, you can also access this track on YouTube.
Music track by Raghavendran Rajasekaran
Guided by Bright Ong
Sound designer: Bings Lee
From 6 Dec, Sun
Track 3 – THE SILENCE
Location: Park
Synopsis:
“I am the tree. Amongst a forest of trees. A fragment of this expansive world.
Concerned with my place in the intersection of time and space.
I feel my past, present, and future. I am a universe within a universe. I can remember to be.
My existence is proven by silent rings.
Instructions:
1. Find time to be in a park you have not been to in a while.
2. Ensure you observe safety regulations.
3. Play the track on your earphones. *
4. Enjoy contemplating your voice in the universe.
Alternatively, you can also access this track on YouTube.
Music track by Azrin Abdullah
Guided by Umi Kalthum
Sound designer: Bings Lee
* Data/Internet access is required for playback on your phone. Ensure that your devices are fully charged for the duration of the track.
12 & 13 Dec
Track 4 – The Silence of a Falling Tree
Location: Victoria Theatre
Synopsis:
"I am me.
Concerned with imagining the silence of a falling tree.
I am present, but your reality eludes me. I am the weight of waiting. I can suspend my disbelief.
My attention precedes your symphony.”
The Silence of a Falling Tree is the story of an empty theatre that was forced to hold silence for an extended period of time. Oh, how it longed for laughter, applause, or even a scratchy throat cough. Three musicians and three actors come together to banish the stillness that reign. They play an epic beyond your wildest imagination; in an attempt to calm the anxieties of the isolated space; in hopes to appease their yearning for an old friend.
Music by Azrin Abdullah, Cheryl Ong, & Raghavendran Rajasekaran
Guided by Bright Ong, Grace Kalaiselvi, & Umi Kalthum
Publicity image by Moses Tan
Free with registration
COMPOUND is a collective led by multi-disciplinary artist, Irfan Kasban, to create works that are greater than the sum of its parts. Bound by the interest to create new transmutations in art, the collective aims to foster new methodologies, that continuously evolves.
Writer-Director:
Irfan Kasban
Sound Designers:
Ferry
Bings Lee
Composers:
Azrin Abdullah
Cheryl Ong
Raghavendran Rajasekaran
Voice Actors:
Bright Ong
Grace Kalaiselvi
Umi Kalthum
