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Black Mesa

by ELKA BONG

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Dirk Serries
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James Coleman
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1.
Muyingwa (germination) 10:05
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2.
Polik-mana (brings rain & flowers) 09:57
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3.
Hu (hummingbird) 09:58
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4.
Koyaala (clowns) 10:01
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about

… Western culture [assumes] that the world is made up primarily of things, or discrete objects, and that events are the result of the activities and interactions of these things. Analysis of the Hopi ethos suggests that, in their view, the opposite is true. The world is constructed of events, or processes, some of which take on the temporary appearance of being a thing. As indicated above, the Hopi are acutely aware of the cycles of nature: for example, the changes and transformations of a corn seen combined with soil, water, sunlight, and loving care into a seedling, then into a mature plant with ears of corn, and then into a dried cornstalk that falls back to the Earth. Such cycles, or processes, are emphasized over the specific segments of the process that modern Westerners might more likely isolate as the thing, e.g., the ear of corn that is eaten.

… [E]ven if a process/event oriented worldview such as the Hopi's were no more accurate than a thing/object based worldview—that is, if both approximations correspond about equally well with the nature of reality—the process ethos would still be likely to result in a healthier, less polluting, less destructive relationship with the environment. In a thing-oriented worldview, one sees oneself as a discrete entity, separate from other things in the environment—or as a "higher being" who uses and manipulates other "lower" forms of life and inanimate objects. In a process worldview, one must see oneself as a process also (e.g., coming into being, growing, dying, breaking down into elemental parts), as part of many other larger processes. This understanding would tend to prevent an excessive emphasis on one's own ego and its concerns. For, like the corn that can be seen as soil, air, water, and sunlight temporarily organized into a particular pattern, we who eat it are similarly soil, air, water, and sunlight temporarily organized into a particular pattern.

~ Jude Todd, The Hopi Environmental Ethos, 2002

credits

released March 4, 2024

Al Margolis - violin, objects, contact mic [1], trombone [2], transformations [3], toy accordion [4]
Walter Wright - amplified drum kit

Mixed by Al, tweeked by Walter. Track tiles are Kachinas.

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ELKA BONG Chester, New York

AL MARGOLIS
“... is some sort of evil genius working with sources radically altered up to an utterly unrecognizable state, anarchic manifestations moving in compact determination.”
~ Massimo Ricci

WALTER WRIGHT
is an interdisciplinary artist, his practice includes computer programming, music, and video performance. His focus is on “improvisation as a way of being present in the world.” ... more

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