for what they saw would hit them like a bolt by Manja Ristic published on 2023-09-14T18:40:49Z sound art series based on the poetry collection "Stories Untold" ----------------------------------------------------------------------- people were falling in the streets shivering in agony, for what they saw would hit them like a bolt, scalding them from within, the Great War was now inside them ----------------------------------------------------------------------- I am buried with you, and the others in the trenches of shame, all piled up & covered with sickening laughter. Our eyeballs are rubbed with injustices, ears deafen by rumble of terror, hearts numbed with trepidation, limbs soaked in repugnant lies, minds bleached by virtual ordure. They murder, they rape, they rob. They bury. Me, you, and the others. ++++++ + ++ + + + ++ + + ++ ++++ + + ++ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- this 21-minute long sound work is a forest tale about war, re-imagined from the perspective of the land that witnessed centuries of socio-cultural turmoil. tamed nature versus wilderness, contaminated versus protected land, the Iron Curtain belt saw some significant changes – from being a brutal barrier between East and West strewn with mine fields, to becoming a highly protected European natural heritage. the somewhat tense, suffocating and dark-sounding atmosphere of this piece reflects my feelings on possible relations between former and present conflicts, and alludes to the harsh consequences necro-politics of the past are imposing on contemporary society. the stunning forest microbiome researched in this work is now part of the European Green Belt, formerly the Iron Curtain borderlands between Austria and Czech Republic. released September 14, 2023 sounds gathered during SHAPE+ musikprotokoll residency, July 2023, kindly hosted by Kulturzentrum – Garage Druzba, Harrachstal. all sounds recorded, edited & composed by Manja Ristić hydrophone built by Jez riley French mastering La Plant Studio Genre sound art Comment by Drax Lovely! 2023-10-20T14:56:17Z