{"id":21870,"title":"With Mermaids (It is Darkest Before Dawn) or Med Selkies (Det \u00e4r som m\u00f6rkast innan gryningen)","description":"With Mermaids or Med Selkies are the truncated titles of an audio-visual project by sound artist and electro acoustic music composer and writer Kelly Ann Buckley, artist name K-A-B currently showing on Focal Point Gallery's BIG SCREEN as part of the associated programme of its main show, Receiver.","content":"<p>Med Selkies was selected to be screened at the <em>Experimental, Music and Dance Film Festival &amp; WildSound Festival<\/em> in Toronto, Canada in May 2025. It won <strong>BEST SOUND &amp; MUSIC<\/strong> as part of the <em>Experimental, Music and Dance Film<\/em> category and programmed on the Wild Sound TV app (Amazon Prime). <br \/>It was long listed for the <strong>Aesthetica Art Prize 2026<\/strong> and will be included in the artist profile section of the Aesthetica website, and have presence in the long list showcase at the York Art Gallery from July - November 2026. <br \/>Med Selkies was first screened from October 2022 - January 2023 on <strong>The Big Screen<\/strong> at <strong><em>Focal Point Gallery<\/em> <\/strong>as part of the Associated Programme to the exhibition <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fpg.org.uk\/exhibition\/big-screen-southend-associate-programme-appau-jnr-boayke-yiadom-kelly-ann-buckley-frazer-merrick-nastassja-simensky\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em><u>Receiver. <\/u><\/em><\/a><em> <\/em><br \/><br \/>Kelly<br \/><\/p><div data-youtube-video=\"\"><iframe class=\"youtube\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" allowfullscreen=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/TtIBI4c62iQ\"><\/iframe><\/div><p><\/p><h3><strong><u>Med Selkies<\/u><\/strong><\/h3><p><strong>Med Selkies (Det \u00e4r som m\u00f6rkast innan gryningen)<\/strong><br \/><strong>With Mermaids (It\u2019s Is Darkest Before Dawn)<\/strong><\/p><p>Original story and poem - Kelly Ann Buckley<br \/>Developmental editor\/co-writer - TJ Keenan<br \/>Music composition and sound design - Kelly Ann Buckley<\/p><hr \/><p>This story is presented as an audio-visual piece by sound artist and composer\/sound designer Kelly Ann Buckley (artist name K-A-B). It is an expansion of Buckley\u2019s <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fpg.org.uk\/exhibition\/echoes-in-the-fossils\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong><em><u>Echoes In The Fossils<\/u><\/em><\/strong><\/a> commission for Focal Point Gallery\u2019s FPG Sounds project.<\/p><p>An additional soundscape, <em>With Mermaids<\/em>, followed the commission, being developed from a live performance created for the FPG Sounds \u2018Control Voltage\u2019 show in February 2022, where Buckley experimented on stage with water, live sampling and looping it into a sonic experimental piece.<\/p><hr \/><p><strong>Narrative Context<\/strong><\/p><p>The narrative of this poem sees the protagonist - a human - landwrecked, lost and floating in the North Sea. We can assume this situation is taking place in the not too distant future and is due to a climate emergency related disaster.<\/p><p>Land is now sparse, ravaged, and we get the sense the human is about to give in. The human - either in dream or reality - succumbs to the deep water in calm acceptance.<\/p><p>Discombobulated beneath the tides, the underwater world becomes metaphorical, metaphysical, magical.<\/p><p>The human is \u2018saved\u2019 from drowning due to a connection with an otherworldly force. Breath seems to come from within, as if back in the womb. There is a feeling of rebirth, another chance\u2026<\/p><p>\u2018Hope\u2019, \u2018safety\u2019 and \u2018possibility\u2019 come into focus as a harmonious, utopian way of life beneath the sea is shown via ancestral souls.<\/p><hr \/><p><strong>Language &amp; Ancestry<\/strong><\/p><p>The \u2018voice\u2019 of the ancestral soul is in Old Norse, which is theorised to be one of the linguistic strains of the very early Germanic language spoken by Doggerland people.<\/p><p>Doggerland - a Mesolithic heartland of Europe - was lost to the North Sea 8,000 years ago.<\/p><p>[Doggerland was also the focus of Kelly Ann Buckley\u2019s Focal Point Gallery (FPG Sounds) commission, <em>Echoes in the Fossils<\/em>, exhibited as part of the gallery\u2019s online programme from October 2021 \u2013 January 2022. In part 1 of <em>Echoes In The Fossils<\/em> - \u2018And Doggerland Fell Silent\u2019, Buckley explored the parallels between this huge Mesolithic land mass lost to glacial melt and rising sea levels and the prediction that many coastal parts of the world will be underwater by 2050.]<\/p><p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fpg.org.uk\/exhibition\/echoes-in-the-fossils\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">https:\/\/www.fpg.org.uk\/exhibition\/echoes-in-the-fossils\/<\/a><\/p><hr \/><p><strong>Myth &amp; Evolution<\/strong><\/p><p>Sirens beneath the water sing sagas of human aquatic cousins - real humans who took a divergent evolutionary pathway to be able to live in the sea. This is a nod to the Aquatic Ape Hypothesis and suggests this subset of humans are those we have mythologised through centuries as being selkies or mermaids.<\/p><hr \/><p><strong>Disruption &amp; Realisation<\/strong><\/p><p>Just when it seems there is hope for the human race to survive and evolve - living harmoniously with these aquatic beings as part of nature, of the sea, instead of working against it - the human is suddenly faced with the reality of how much damage human pollution has caused.<\/p><p>From waste to dead, bleached coral, the evidence is everywhere, and the human realises that because of the seriousness of destruction, these aquatic relatives are no longer living in the asylum of some sort of Atlantis.<\/p><p>We hear other voices - old Romans in Latin - a metaphor to represent human invaders who have recurrently overpowered the earth in the name of advancement.<\/p><hr \/><p><strong>Synthetic Ecology<\/strong><\/p><p>Furthermore, the human sees with her own eyes a new, synthetic ecosystem growing out of control \u2014 plastic-eating microbes have now evolved and are taking over, seeking more food.<\/p><p>[In real, present day life, scientists are now discovering a synthetic ecosystem exists and is growing. Scientists are trying to harness the plastic-eating microbes they have discovered living there, to help combat pollution.]<\/p><p>[We also now know humans have microplastics inside their blood. It is being found in adults, children, newborn and unborn babies alike.]<\/p><hr \/><p><strong>Conclusion<\/strong><\/p><p>The poem - set slightly in the future - suggests this terrible reality has worsened: the amount of plastics found in the human body has increased. Meanwhile, the plastic-eating microbes have also grown\u2026 and it seems humans will no longer be at the top of the food chain.<\/p><p>The human suddenly needs to get back to the surface of the water and breathe. She needs to share this warning with other humans.<\/p><p>But who will listen?<\/p><hr \/><p><\/p><h3><u>MED SELKIES : FOCAL POINT GALLERY ARCHIVE<\/u><br \/><\/h3><p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fpg.org.uk\/exhibition\/big-screen-southend-associate-programme-appau-jnr-boayke-yiadom-kelly-ann-buckley-frazer-merrick-nastassja-simensky\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">https:\/\/www.fpg.org.uk\/exhibition\/big-screen-southend-associate-programme-appau-jnr-boayke-yiadom-kelly-ann-buckley-frazer-merrick-nastassja-simensky\/<\/a><\/p><p><br \/><u>IN MY OWN WORDS: THE STORY BEHIND THE \u2018MED SELKIES\u2019 SOUNDSCAPE AND POEM - By Kelly Ann Buckley, October 20, 2022<\/u><\/p><p>\u201cMed Selkies was very first born as part of a live soundscape performance at the <em>Control Voltage\/Focal Point Gallery<\/em> experimental music show in February 2022.<br \/><br \/>\u2018With Mermaids\u2019 involved live sampling, looping, and adding effects to water on stage, along with voice and instrumentation.  I had created this piece as an expansion of Part 5 of my <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fpg.org.uk\/exhibition\/echoes-in-the-fossils\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong><em><u>Echoes in the Fossils<\/u><\/em><\/strong><\/a> project, which explored lost and reimagined soundscape ecology from Mesolithic times to the Anthropocene.  <br \/><br \/>I had been working with visuals, combining seaweeds, images of marine life, human faces and plastics, as an accompaniment to Part 5 of <em>Echoes In The Fossils,<\/em> titled \u2018After the Anthropocene\u2019.  It was an exploration into the idea of what will happen to humans if they continue to adapt to an aquatic life, and be consumed by plastic.  <br \/><br \/>In <em>\u2018With Mermaids\u2019,<\/em> I continued to develop this idea, also drawing inspiration from the Aquatic Ape Theory to suggest we had aquatic cousins living out in the parts of the ocean yet undiscovered.  I also continued to draw inspiration from the idea of a lost civilisation like Doggerland, (as explored in Part 1 of Echoes and the Fossils) and the ancestral spirits that might be resting in the North Sea.<\/p><p><\/p><p><img src=\"https:\/\/images.teemill.com\/1eqno3ubuweiakvyettctjvukni6f74v1cazxneaortf0iow.jpg\" alt=\"1eqno3ubuweiakvyettctjvukni6f74v1cazxneaortf0iow.jpg\" \/>Considering the implications of plastic pollution and the discovery of microplastics inside humans, I speculated on the potential evolution of plastic-eating microbes and their impact on humanity. This led to the creation of a poetic storyline, which I wanted to combine with the soundscape and moving images.<\/p><p>I enlisted the help of screenwriter Tom Keenan to edit and enhance the poem, incorporating Old Norse and Latin as metaphors for past epochs of human dominance over the earth. The final piece, \u2018With Mermaids (It is Darkest Before Dawn)\u2019 or \u2018Med Selkies (Det \u00e4r som m\u00f6rkast innan gryningen)\u2019, blends reality, mythology, and metaphysics.<\/p><p>With the support of Focal Point Gallery, particularly curator James Ravinet, the work was included in the Big Screen program, running alongside the Receiver show focused on sound work until December 23.\u201d<\/p><p><img src=\"https:\/\/images.teemill.com\/oo31zqwxqxujyc3tzlxyqt6qa1sk8cacf2yfll5y7o8arbzw.jpg.jpg?w=1140&amp;v=2\" alt=\"oo31zqwxqxujyc3tzlxyqt6qa1sk8cacf2yfll5y7o8arbzw.jpg.jpg?w=1140&amp;v=2\" \/><\/p><p><u>THE MAKING OF THE SOUNDSCAPE<\/u><\/p><p>\u201cThe soundscape was initially created live on stage, where I used a hydrophone in a fish bowl of water and added effects whilst swirling and dripping it. I also looped the sound of the splashing using an on stage directional mic, also adding vox and building up other kinds of instrumentation and pre recorded samples I\u2019d created, live launching and looping everything on stage.<\/p><p>I developed the piece in the studio adding plenty of recordings of the sea and waves. I also recorded myself under water playing with plastic, wrapping myself in it, screaming and yelling under water, gasping, etc. I used crisp bags and cellophane under the water for the part where the \u2018being\u2019 gets twisted up and choked in the plastic. I used a lot of sound design and choppy panning to give the dizzying sensation.<\/p><p>On top of all this I did a ton of sound design to create the submerging sounds, using a lot of sub layers to give the feeling of going deeper under water. I manipulated the instrumentation and vocal sounds to sound like the aquatic beings under the water. I also added a teeny tiny clip of real dolphins and of a real whale, which I got from a Creative Commons library - the credits of the recordists are in the film. I think I created something like 80 tracks to create the soundscape.<\/p><p>The male voice which represents the ancestors speaking in Old Norse and the Romans, was done by Tom Keenan - the poetry editor and contributing writer. I didn\u2019t want a voice all over the piece, reading the whole poem, as I wanted the soundscape itself to be the main focus and the poem to read in the readers\u2019 head, but felt the lines that represented the voices of pasts epochs worked out loud. I pitched Tom\u2019s voice down a bit to make it sound as if it was more ancient, old and faraway, and in the case of the Roman parts, pitched it down even more. If I ever put this out as an audio piece I may have to put spoken word all the way through\u2026 watch this space.<br \/><\/p><p><\/p><p><u>FURTHER VISUALS<\/u><\/p><p>Following the production of Med Selkies, I started to create some abstract artwork which has been printed onto 100% organic recycled cotton paper and organic clothing. The prints so far have been called Breath Breath Breath, which refers to a line in the poem, and also Med Selkies. <br \/><br \/>Please come back to the <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/k-a-b.net\/collection\/med-selkies-with-mermaids\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">MED SELKIES collection<\/a> to see further artwork added to it as time goes on. \u201c<br \/><br \/><img src=\"https:\/\/images.teemill.com\/grwoaitwfv3ogt2z1pptmk4pfl8xwzxhfqxkcbd5o688z4zh.jpeg\" alt=\"grwoaitwfv3ogt2z1pptmk4pfl8xwzxhfqxkcbd5o688z4zh.jpeg\" \/>Breath Breath Breath\u2026<\/p><p><\/p><p><\/p><p>Med Selkies (Below)<\/p><p><img src=\"https:\/\/images.teemill.com\/eycd2tfa1ms1aknyxmxmzfxrkbat2ily3exvldyzbaavmjve.png\" alt=\"eycd2tfa1ms1aknyxmxmzfxrkbat2ily3exvldyzbaavmjve.png\" \/>You can read the poem itself with a breakdown of its explanation by <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fpg.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Med-Selkies-Det-ar-som-morkast-innan-gryingen-With-Mermaids-Its-Is-Darkest-Before-Dawn.pdf\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">CLICKING HERE<\/a>. <br \/><br \/>You can read more about the BIG SCREEN programme on until December 23 2022, <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fpg.org.uk\/exhibition\/big-screen-southend-associate-programme-appau-jnr-boayke-yiadom-kelly-ann-buckley-frazer-merrick-nastassja-simensky\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">BY CLICKING HERE.<\/a><\/p><p>You can find more about Receiver by <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fpg.org.uk\/exhibition\/receiver\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">CLICKING HERE.<\/a><\/p><p><\/p>","urlTitle":"med-selkies-with-mermaids","url":"\/blog\/med-selkies-with-mermaids\/","editListUrl":"\/my-blogs","editUrl":"\/my-blogs\/edit\/med-selkies-with-mermaids\/","fullUrl":"https:\/\/k-a-b.net\/blog\/med-selkies-with-mermaids\/","featured":false,"published":true,"showOnSitemap":true,"hidden":false,"visibility":null,"createdAt":1666270105,"updatedAt":1776768726,"publishedAt":1776768726,"lastReadAt":null,"division":{"id":85630,"name":"K-A-B"},"tags":[{"id":1189,"code":"environmentally-inspired","name":"EnvironmentallyInspired","url":"\/blog\/tagged\/environmentally-inspired\/"},{"id":1191,"code":"music","name":"Music","url":"\/blog\/tagged\/music\/"},{"id":1196,"code":"womeninmusic","name":"womeninmusic","url":"\/blog\/tagged\/womeninmusic\/"},{"id":1199,"code":"waterinspired","name":"waterinspired","url":"\/blog\/tagged\/waterinspired\/"},{"id":1202,"code":"sounddesign","name":"sounddesign","url":"\/blog\/tagged\/sounddesign\/"},{"id":1203,"code":"filmscoring","name":"filmscoring","url":"\/blog\/tagged\/filmscoring\/"},{"id":1204,"code":"southendon-sea","name":"SouthendonSea","url":"\/blog\/tagged\/southendon-sea\/"},{"id":1206,"code":"samplemaking","name":"samplemaking","url":"\/blog\/tagged\/samplemaking\/"}],"metaImage":{"original":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/rekfb1fs4i6dzdaqbhykugyboprafc0qc1cuxtja3v27b3fi.png","thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/rekfb1fs4i6dzdaqbhykugyboprafc0qc1cuxtja3v27b3fi.png.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/rekfb1fs4i6dzdaqbhykugyboprafc0qc1cuxtja3v27b3fi.png.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"metaTitle":"","metaDescription":"","keyPhraseCampaignId":null,"series":[],"similarReads":[{"id":6442,"title":"Clouds","url":"\/blog\/clouds\/","urlTitle":"clouds","division":85630,"description":"K-A-B All In The Cloud \/ Flowers in the Clouds (c) (p) 2020 is the name of Version of a music piece for a new collection of cues and jingles, which has also inspired t-shirt designs for men, women and kids and wall art prints too.","published":true,"metaImage":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/PI3yEBptNJImjlu5iG1PchsROXKJkThqU1zR7ENjWcq7sbRX.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/PI3yEBptNJImjlu5iG1PchsROXKJkThqU1zR7ENjWcq7sbRX.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"hidden":0},{"id":7315,"title":"HABITAT REDUCTION","url":"\/blog\/habitat-reduction\/","urlTitle":"habitat-reduction","division":85630,"description":"I WROTE this piece of music and designed this print, with the global issue of habitat destruction in mind.","published":true,"metaImage":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/SiIL6ouvHVprrBQr9XQ56tVO6hTwfmLkpbc9q9GoxUIm4cEG.png.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/SiIL6ouvHVprrBQr9XQ56tVO6hTwfmLkpbc9q9GoxUIm4cEG.png.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"hidden":0},{"id":9304,"title":"Notes By The Sea - a sample by K-A-B for the project NINETY","url":"\/blog\/notes-by-the-sea-a-sample-by-k-a-b-for-the-project-2-rising\/","urlTitle":"notes-by-the-sea-a-sample-by-k-a-b-for-the-project-2-rising","division":85630,"description":"TODAY I\u2019ve been recording sounds on the beach to make a sample.  It\u2019s for a project - 2% Rising - which is collecting samples from women and non-binary people in the audio industry.  These samples will be put together as one song to be produced by:  Drum &amp; Lace, So Wylie, Lil Miss Beats, Xylo Ar","published":true,"metaImage":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/hq8takzfxab6hxuebi711xexetcsyqfgyfna2dzrtae8kqhk.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/hq8takzfxab6hxuebi711xexetcsyqfgyfna2dzrtae8kqhk.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"hidden":0}],"labels":[]}