MixTate Kara-Lis Coverdale on Joan Miró

I see a story of engagement in this Joan Miró work. I see a ‘person’, the moon, a star, and a leaf. Other things too. But all things are in relation to this one person, which occupies the most space in the composition. There is little sense of gravity in the work and things seem to float around in the square, creating a balance and order ruled by air. There is something wild about the painting that evokes joy, fear, and curiosity all at once. It also reminds me of a playground.

I often stay up late at night and walk through the forest alone in the middle of the evening, sometimes with a flashlight, depending on how bright the sky is. I’ve been doing this for many years. I’m sure I used to be frightened by unseen movement more easily. But now the dark is quite navigable, and sounds that were once terrifying for unknown reason I now recognise more sensitively as expressions of others’ terror. We are all a little scared, you see? It is difficult to greet another when fear is in the way, yet very special melodies erupt of collision.

I chose a selection of musics that for me express a practice of survival, curiosity with rudiments, and a habit of listening closely to the subtleties of languages we do not yet speak or understand…

1. µ-ziq – droops
2. Karlheinz Stockhausen – Stimmung: Model 2
3. Karlheinz Stockhausen – Stimmung: Model 3
4. Moor Mother – Creation Myth
5. Doon Kanda – Feline
6. Wolf Eyes – Texas
7. Stine Janvin Motland – Fake Synthetic Music (Live at NMASS2016)
8. Simon Chioini – Want/Need × György Ligeti – Sonata: Dialogo I (Adagio) (Performed by Miklos Perenyi)
9. Carl Stone – Echoing × Ziúr – Taiga

Kara-Lis Coverdale is a composer based in Montréal, Canada.