Michael G.F. PriorElastic Organum

Michael G.F. Prior’s work explores musical frameworks using everyday materials. The second of a series, ‘Elastic Organum’ is inspired by twelfth-century polyphonic composition techniques for the human voice, where elements are accumulated over time to create evolving harmonic and rhythmic structures.

Prior’s installation is a cybernetic ensemble of objects, sounds and materials wherein electrical and gravitational forces create a space of wonder and anticipation. Its provisional elements—water, mirror, light, rock, tube, chain—build a world of shifting relationships. Through rhythm and motion, a series of juxtapositions appeal to the brain’s natural urge to find patterns. The arrangement focuses on the inherent properties of things: their flexibility, resonance, reflectivity; the way they move, hide, reveal, are subject to gravity, drape or dangle. Nothing is designed to stand out or to represent anything; instead our eyes and ears are drawn into a subtly articulated atmosphere through minimal means, to experience through time a world with its own logic and composition.

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