Oram Award winning artist Helen Anahita Wilson shares bioelectrical composition for cancer patients
Listen / Share 'Linea Naturalis'
All proceeds go to Maggie's a charity that offers care and support to people with cancer
"Breathtaking" - The Wire
“Master musicianship” - World Music Central
“Stunning…. absolutely stunning” - BBC Radio 3
“Inspired… refreshment for the ears” - Jazzwise
Today sound artist, practice-based researcher and one of this year’s Oram Award Winners, Helen Anahita Wilson, shares new composition Linea Naturalis (we are all bioelectrical beings). Derived entirely from bioelectricity in plants with medicinal and healing properties, the piece is made to be listened to by all but dedicated to people undergoing cancer treatment. All of the project’s proceeds will be going to Maggie’s, a charity that offers care and support to people with cancer.
Helen Anahita Wilson’s work explores new ways of telling stories and sharing biomedical information through music and sonic artists. Having gone through successful cancer treatment herself, Wilson wanted to create a piece of music that offers cancer patients a means to connect back to nature whilst receiving treatment in the sterile, unnatural environment of a hospital or cancer centre.
The plants recorded in Linea Naturalis are plants used in anti-cancer treatment and chemotherapy. The aim of the music is to demystify cancer treatment through highlighting the natural derivation of many drugs. Wilson adds: “I hope to make the experience of treatment a little less daunting by offering this calming and reassuring music to listen to”. The piece is forty-five minutes long, the average time it takes for the contents of a chemotherapy drip bag to enter the body, so it is designed to listen to when receiving treatment in hospital, ideally with headphones.
Linea Naturalis (we are all bioelectrical beings) was created by taking unique, natural bioelectricity readings from petals, leaves, trunks and branches of plants in the oncology section of the Chelsea Physic Garden, London. Converting the plant signals into musical data.
The 28 plant recordings feature unique pitch and rhythm patterns. Petals exhibit a vibrant, dynamic range of notes and rhythms, while branch and trunk recordings offer slow, drone-like textures. Each plant recording is assigned a specific instrument, e.g., harp for Madagascan Periwinkle (Catharanthus roseus - pink form) petals and viola for English Yew tree (Taxus baccata) bark. Field recordings of birdsong and rainstorms triggered by Sisal (Agave sisalana) and Opium poppy (Papaver somniferum) add depth. These instrumental lines are combined and crafted through compositional processes to create a unique piece of plant-derived music. "Linea Naturalis" weaves the ensemble of plant recordings together, allowing certain plants to shine as soloists at various moments. The composition spotlights a diverse array of plants, including Japanese Plum Yew, Chinese Happy Tree, English Yew, Pacific Yew, Madagascan Periwinkle, Opium Poppy, Sisal, Sweet Wormwood, Mayapple, and Myrtle.
Wilson is one of this year’s Oram Award Winners, the award that celebrates Women, Trans, Non-Binary and Gender Expansive artists who are pushing the envelope of creativity in sound, music and related technology. Previous winners include Loraine James, Klein, Venus Ex Machina, Francine Perry aka La Leif, and Amy Cutler.
Linea Naturalis (we are all bioelectrical beings) is free to listen to today, or can be downloaded with a pay what you wish option. All proceeds of this music will go to Maggie’s, a charity offering care and support to people with cancer across the UK. To find out more, Helen Anahita Wilson will be talking about the project on BBC Radio 4's 'Today' show on Nov 3rd.
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