Purusha
for live electronics
'Purusha' is a performance for an interactive system in real time, conceived as a 'reinterpretation' of a previous work of mine: 'Prakriti' (2002).
Purusha (Sanskrit puruṣa पुरुष) is a complex concept whose meaning evolved in Vedic and Upanishadic times. The cosmic being (purusha) is the inactive masculine aspect. It manifests through its active, feminine counterpart called Nature (prakriti). Being and Nature are inseparable complements, and every form of manifestation bears the signature of this duality. Purusha is the inactive, masculine aspect, just as Prakriti it the active part.
Purusha, represents the Cosmic Spiritual Energy, the impassive and immutable cosmic consciousness, of which in the microcosm we find the reflection in the consciousness of an individual not identified in matter and in the ego.
Prakriti, on the other hand, is the Material Cosmic Energy, active and dynamic, which forms the fabric of creation.
Purusha = inactivity, spirituality, cosmic consciousness, cosmos
Prakriti = activity, materiality, dynamism, earth
So 'Purusha, as ' 'Prakriti' is an exploration of nature through transformation of natural sounds and integration of them with static drones obtained mainly stretching and granulating orchestral sounds.
Sounds from nature, recorded during a residence in Topolò, a mountain village in Italy near the Slovenian border, are metabolized, transformed, distorted, decomposed, granulated. The raw materials are transformed focusing on granules and acoustic micro-particles, on the microsound level and then mixed with orchestral sampled sounds. The author acts by controlling the evolution of the work and the generation of new sound events, mixing and spatializing their stratification, composing the silence.
All the sounds are trasformed or generated by a real time system, producing an infinite and ever-changing combination of sound events.
The interaction with the system takes place via a midi mixer and a graphic tablet, with which the performer control the system.
The individual sound events have been spatialized using Ambisonics tecniques and encoded in UHJ format, compatible with stereo.
The entire work will be available soon...
Purusha excerpt (live recording, summer 2020, Timelash studio)
Many thanks to Paulo Raposo for the fantastic idea to work again on Prakriti.