the sight and sound of syncopation

balance - slightly off-balance. experiences that somehow meld those two states appeal to me because they draw you along in their flow but challenge you to remain focussed and aware of their differences, their strange compatabilities, and of the mutability that bridges the disparities.

this beautiful piece of art that appears in the form of a piece of jewellery is named lunar calendar and is the work of the very talented kristin mitsu shiga. if you follow the link under the words "lunar calendar" you'll reach her homepage from which you can write her and convince her to sell her work to you!

"lunar calendar", while nominally a necklace, steps out of the box of necklaces and dances in the space between art and jewellery. balance and off-balance.

these three pieces of music are partly about syncopation. syncopation: stress on a normally unstressed beat. it has grabbed my ears and mind for as long as i can remember. one doctor even suggested that it was connected to the arrhythmia i experience through my heart murmur.

syncopation is about the aural and physical experiencing of balance and off balance . . . the back beat, the beat that gets held back for a moment and then whap!!! there it is with a little more emphasis than the other beats, and you find when you listen to pieces of music with that slightly held-off beat that you can't tear yourself away.

we’ll begin with moroccan street music to spark up this percussive journey . . .



now we’ll hear talking heads performing “seen and not seen” . . .



finally, dead can dance perform their song “toward the within”. . .



see what i mean? hear what i mean? know what i mean?