Silent Cacophony –Platform -7 event 11.11.13
Fae Harmer reflects on Silent Cacophony.
There’s a special thing that happens during a Platform-7 event, I’ve yet to put my finger quite on it but it appears to be down to a combination of dedicated artists expanding the horizon of the theme and the wider community having both the opportunity to engage and a feeling that they have been given permission to enter the discussion. The result is a shared sense of wellbeing, gathering and ambition. I joined in with Silent Cacophony quite late, just a few days before the 11th I agreed to an informal call for a photographer. I didn’t really know much, I had seen the leaflet, knew people that were involved and were planning installations and performances yet I hadn’t discussed it at length with anyone. In fact in it was very quiet on that front… As I travelled into Lewisham to meet Jazzman John Clarke I walked by a silent siren, I’ve seen many around London, atop rusting turquoise posts. Mute. A striking difference to the wail that would, no doubt, have been shrieking through the streets at the time of the event John’s Poem, ‘Sonic Gift’ (see below) was written about. A V1 rocket exploded hit the Marks & Spencers in Lewisham High Street on Friday 28 July 1944, in the middle of a bustling market. The event I had come to see that day had an altogether different impact, a highly intoxicating mix of reverence for the date, admiration for the performers and a rare human connection in bustling London. Poet, Jazzman John Clarke stood shoulder to shoulder with Claud Deppa on flugelhorn and Ricky Edwards on alto sax, his words intermingled with the cries of the stallholders in the market. Dancer and puppeteer Giovanna Bindi moved out into the crowd retracing the steps of the bomb and it’s victims.
Two passersby began to stop and tell stories of an aunt who had survived, a grandmother who had not… It was as though the art had allowed them to speak to each other when before they would have just passed on by.
Read the full account of Fae's blog: http://photografae.wordpress.com/photographizations/
A gallery from this event can be viewed [by clicking here]
Jazzman's John Clarke's poem
' SONIC GIFT ' (Ironic Title) A sonic gift waiting to explode An anonymous present to an unknown recipient A cruel idea a twisted joke A harmless creature with death & destruction on its mind A sonic gift waiting waiting waiting In stark silence to explode Each one more ingenious & sophisticated than the last A stark reality that takes just a split second to strike home A target that never sees it coming never imagines That it could possibly be the one that gets it Position & timing is everything Stand in that spot & you're saved Stand in that spot & you're a goner It's a sonic gift a sonic gift Waiting waiting waiting to explode Today you're here tomorrow you're not A cruel idea a twisted joke An anonymous present to an unknown recipient Nothing makes sense war is useless senseless But it continues to ravage the Earth With swathes of cruel ideas & twisted jokes Callously murdering simple ordinary folks Callously disregarding anyone in its path How can you defend something so redolent of evil? What does history teach us? Nothing makes sense war is useless senseless Nothing makes sense war is useless senseless (c) JOHN CLARKE 19 SEPTEMBER 2013