Solovki - Sound, Image, and Memory

I attended an event put on by Duncan Higgins who biannually visits the Solovki islands in North Russia. It was held at the Sheffield Cathedral on All Souls Day of this month. I loved it. Nigel left after 20 minutes. He thinks he might be attention deficit. Immediately upon walking into the cathedral there are large moving film projections aimed at different nooks and beams. The tree tops swayed in the wind near the top of the ceiling and the pillars wore the trunks and lower branches. The photograph above was my attempt to capture the forest being projected into a side nave. It was absolutely breathtaking and I sat beside it all evening so that I could keep watching it. There were also at least 4-5 small projections which functioned as small beacons of light on different walls in the church, much like a night light. Shone onto the grey stone wall they had a beautiful quality of colour and texture. The entire performance was one of organ. Now, I am not an organ enthusiast, but this was something different. Not only was it paired with the projections and an ethereal quality to the cathedral but it was unlike any organ music I had heard before. I swear some sounded like a retro Frankenstein movie. It was great! I snapped a couple of more pictures once the lights went on and the cathedral was dimly lit.