Harmonium Interpretation

Harmonium Piece: An Interpretation
Scott Ovens,
BA(Hons) Fine Art, University College Falmouth. (2007)

In the centre of the room there lies a series of objects; some parts mechanical with other parts functional or aesthetic, in an intriguing and compelling composition.
Haunting by sound and fragile in appearance, teacups, saucers, bowls and plates scattered across the floor; balance in a random assortment covering surface
area and the capacity of the room.

At one side a slanting table holding a vase of flowers as if an illusion or freeze frame capturing the event of the collapsing table. A moment before all is shattered.
Opposing this is the remains of an old electric organ, customised with a rotating cam system that scrapes over the keys. Replacing the presence of the person who once played it. Like human fingers have been replaced by wooden fingers.

A black and white photo sits in the place where sheet music would have once sat. The composition seems to pay tribute to a life that has passed,
in itself it is like a memorial, but every part of this piece relates to the lingering presence of someone who has now gone.

As people one-day fall with time and age their surroundings fall with them. What is left here can be discovered on the ground, the traces of a person's last steps;
uneaten rock cakes, cups of tea that where never made. All that is left are the sounds of a person no longer there, the organ playing an unsettling tune
and the 'ting' sound made by a tea spoon knocking against the tea cup it sits in.

Now the life has gone and with it all the forms of human control the only remaining consequences of the persons actions are the mousetraps; still anticipating their release.

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