“Can we really lose something that is not ours to lose? The video is a
poetic meditation on absence, portraying the gradual depopulation of a
landscape, until ‘only’ nature remains. But just as an empty bowl is
full of air, the absence of something is just the fullness of
something else – in an Aristotelian sense, horror vacui. By dropping
or ‘losing’ this impression of loss, can we begin to uncover those
other things that give us a sensation of wholeness?
By imagining our human selves as somehow separate from, or superior
to, the rest of the universe, we are setting ourselves up for a stream
of constant disappointment. The comings and goings of loved ones are
deeply heartfelt, and we feel those losses keenly. And yet echoes and
memories remain of those lives, like footprints in the snow; a
penumbra of emotion that can either obscure our joy or offer
comforting shade. The choice to lament or celebrate those precious
moments is ours.
Perhaps we are all Shakespeare’s walking shadows, and a performer is
just a ‘poor player / That struts and frets his hour upon the stage /
And then is heard no more’. But this is no cause for alarm. Quite the
opposite: it signifies everything.”
Alasdair Bouch, 26.2.21
Alasdair Bouch – singer-songwriter, lyricist, vocal pronunciation coach.
Listen: https://alasdairbouch.bandcamp.com/
Watch: https://www.youtube.com/c/AlasdairBouch
Follow: http://www.facebook.com/alasdairbouch
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Tweet: https://twitter.com/AlasdairBouch
iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/alasdair-bouch/id359922779
