Lola Ajima (composer)
Holes in the earth have since the beginning of mankind been considered as entries to the underworld. Making a journey inside the earth is a reflexive experience in which someone searches her/his own deep self. What lies inside this/our own mysterious darkness?
Gaston Bachelard writes about the holes in the earth as the eye of the Cyclopes. The Cyclops’ eye is like the crater of a volcano, it carries light and fire… but it is also through fire that burnt the Cyclops’ eye. Ulysse wounds the Cyclops’ eye through the same fire as the one it symbolizes, transforming an origin into a fatal ending. In the video work Par l’oeil de la cyclope enceinte, we climb through the eye of the Cyclops, deep into her round and living body, until we reach her belly, warm and pregnant. The female Cyclops has a tormented male alter ego that stands on the rim of a crater – desperate of obtaining her burning love. Will the birth of the Cyclops, symbolic eruption of her body, reveal a more intimate side of her gigantic ego, or will it set the land on fire. The video ending does not give the clue. While a dance of vestals gives hope for a better future, the three characters of the plot are irradiated by the volcano burst, and transformed into a final spray of burning metal. A forge for the ultimate incandescence.
Electroacoustic composition by Lola Ajima and live drawing performance by Yukao Nagemi. The video combines electroacoustic music based on field recording, voice, cello and digital composition with ink and digital drawing, and live visual effects.
