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The Union Between Rhythm and Sculpture - Sculpturhythm
7/20/97
This was written as release material for a performance
art project that I do with Olivier Ledoux, wood sculptor. The drum has, since the beginning of humanity, been a vehicle for communication, worship, celebration and community.
Within the drum is the power of the fabric of the collective consciousness; within the hands of the drummer, lies the potential for this power to be released. Drumming is the rhythmic manipulation of noise or
silence. Rhythm is the ordering framework of this manipulation. As with all things, rhythm (order) exists in some sort of balance with non-rhythm (chaos). Without chaos, order ceases to have meaning
and vice versa. Without balance, stability is but temporary or becomes stagnation. Drumming naturally attracts people because the human body is in rhythm. Rhythms, when in the presence of one
another, entrain, i.e., together approach a common rhythm. When we are in rhythm, we go to a place some call the collective consciousness. Here, if we so allow, we are all naked to our souls, bearing none of
the learned negativity and other baggage that we carry. The
djembe drum from West Africa is an extremely powerful drum which, until relatively recently, could only be found in temples. The
djembe has a distorted
hourglass shape and a goatskin head, which gives it the power to produce a wide range of sounds from earth-shattering high slaps to subsonic low tones. The incredibly voluminous bass tone of the
djembe has a
tactile element which actually vibrates the body as well as a subsonic element which can only be perceived on a level beyond that of the seven senses. In some cultures it is know as the 'healing drum' because of
its unique power, in the hands of the right person, to cure ailments. The dialog between carving and drumming is a very natural one. With the mallet and chisel the wood carver sculpts a tree; with the drum, the
drummer sculpts space. In rhythm the two sculpt the seen and the unseen; through rhythm the sculptors become one with their media and with their audience, all the while stirring the soup of order and chaos to
create a forever evolving balance. Through rhythm we as humans can transcend differences and relate as one, as it was meant to be. |
