Atomic Hope Visuals to Live Music
An orchestral piece of music composed by Natasa Paulberg for the New Music Dublin Fesival 2021, exploring the component parts of the atom as a metaphor of our current human experience. The themes of the work express the variable and fluctuating nature of our existence spanning activity, connectivity, dormancy, and ultimately hope.
I was commissioned to create a series of interpretative illustrations to accompany and interpret the music live.
I began by listening to the demo music Natasa created and reacting in realtime to what I was hearing, while also being cognisant of the themes the pieces represented. The initial sketches were worked on to A3 scale and recorded on my phone overhead. The series of scamps were sent over to the composer for review before we set up for a final live recording.
Each piece was recorded in one take with two cameras. An overhead camera for the framed pieces and a side shot to capture the interaction of me and the surface. The footage was kindly lit, shot and edited by my colleague at Bold Studios, Alex Quinn.
Atomic Hope – Movements Explained
Movement I – Electron
The first movement describes the busyness of life and industry through interweaving lines of rhythmic complexity building into a dense texture.
Movement II – Proton
Progressing to the second movement the experience of community, family and the interconnectedness of people is represented.
Movement III – Neutron
This all comes to a sudden halt in movement three where we find ourselves separated, alone in a sparseness that teeters on despair and isolation.
Movement IV – Atomic Hope
From this sense of inertia emerge isolated parts, disjointed initially that slowly merge to again become a whole – different from before, but again as one, an atomic hope.
Thumbnails / Setup and Mockups
Stills from Final Piece
Atomic Hope – Final Piece
Composed by Natasa Paulberg
