One circle, many forms
Seeing and hearing from different angles
Another cycle of new to full moon passed over the weekend. While the moon follows the same shape changes every month, at any moment the ambient light, neighbouring star positions and clouds can each alter the moon’s appearance in subtle or dramatic ways. My first glimpse of the early November new moon was unexpected. Briefly seeing the fine crescent shape felt so intimate: hanging like a hammock, with a golden glow from the remaining light of the sun, and the faint, white, circular rim enclosing the dark areas of the moon.
The beauty of the moon as crescent and circle took me back to this installation I’d seen two months ago: French artist and composer Celeste Boursier-Mougenot’s ‘duplex (Melbourne)’, 2023.1
There are so many possible points of focus in this installation. The floating bowls keep moving en masse as one entity, even as individual bowls may glide smoothly past others or clink and seem to bounce backwards. Similarly with the sounds; overall a bell-ringing score, and internally a range of notes (some in harmony, others may feel discordant). Turning to face the opposite alcove pool, the projected gold circles add another layer of light and movement. I could watch the gold circles lighten and fade across the gilded wall as a solo performance, or let the sound of the bowls guide me to notice any patterns between the two.
If I had had more time, I might have found myself trying to find any underlying patterns. However, I’m glad that I just enjoyed discovering the work in the moments I had to pass that day. Delighted, and present to any opportunity to experience the subtly changing sounds and shades of the circle.
Site-specific commission by 101 Collins, in the foyer of 101 Collins Street, Melbourne.