The Burning of the Clavie is an ancient fire ritual shrouded in mystery, emerging from global midwinter fire festivals that predate recorded history. We brought this primordial energy to Hackney's MKII on Saturday 11th January 2025.
For the visual element, we created time-based feedback compositions with rich, organic textures, coloured and mixed specifically for the architecture and atmosphere of the space. These projections embodied a chalky, emberish quality, capturing the fractal complexity of flame while maintaining precise digital control. The concept was simple yet profound: imagine peering through powerful binoculars directly into the furnace in the corner of the room - what you might see there was translated onto the walls around you.
Through an intricate system of refraction and mirrors, we orchestrated light to dance through the space in unpredictable patterns. This created ephemeral light artifacts that appeared and vanished like intra-dimensional vapour, enhancing the sensation of intersecting realities.
Auratekh helped me to establish a multi-functional projection network which then fed itself into the crystals. We also used a live feed from Mark Wagner's Cymatic performance to add into the live generated textures being projected. The sonic landscape featured seamlessly blended performances by Sybil, Ahrkh and Folklore Tapes, alongside other musicians and Alex Murray from the Swedenborg Society.
From the audio to the visual, the physical to the spiritual, every element coalesced around a central theme of transformative energy - a molten crucible where group dynamics transcended individual contributions to create something greater than the sum of its parts.
