I Remain

Jessica White & Andy Schneider

Origin: Static Issue 05
Content: Poem/Images/Sound

Download PDF [Jessica White Poem]

To listen to the song as it was performed at Wigmore Hall,
click here

We are never the same people we were.

These images are part of a body of work that explores how our perceptions change and transition between states. The vehicle for this exploration is the metamorphosis of a flower, from the unblemished blossom and youth of the traditional subject of flower photography, to a state of decay, defacement or damage.
The sequence of flowers poses the question ‘how much do our experiences need to change before we transition from one emotional response to another’.

Answering that question is a process of personal discovery. The moment pleasure becomes pain and beauty becomes grotesque is a highly subjective matter, different for every individual viewing the work. Perhaps that precise moment will elude us but we can still identify the flow of the change that is presented to us.

Transition and fluidity is represented by the sequence of pictures, but each image contains its own personal transition. Every flower represented in this collection has undergone change. They can be viewed individually as capturing a point in the transformation, as well as having a place within the whole.
Our personal notions of beauty, ugliness, pain and pleasure are not fixed. They can change in a moment but they can also evolve slowly, without conscious realisation throughout our lives. Like the pictures, we sometimes cannot pinpoint the moment we changed but we arrive at the end of the sequence knowing we have.

Andy Schneider

To view images, click on the thumbnails below:

Contributors:

Lyrics: Jessica White

Jessica White grew up on a property near Boggabri in country New South Wales, Australia. A writer of both fiction and poetry, she graduated from the University of Wollongong with a Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Creative Arts (Hons), and from the University of Technology, Sydney, with a Masters in Writing.  She is currently undertaking a PhD at the University of London on written communication between England and Australia, a venture made possible by the Sir Arthur Sims Travelling Scholarship from the University of Melbourne.  Her novel, A Curious Intimacy, was published by Penguin (Australia) in January 2007. 

Composer: Sarah Chamberlain

Sarah Chamberlain is a singer-songwriter currently studying composition at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London.  Prior to this she won a scholarship to the prestigious Chetham's School of Music in Manchester, where she studied the flute, violin and piano in addition to composition. During her time at Chetham's she received several awards, including second prize at the European Piano Teachers Association Composition Competition. As well as studying, Sarah works as a freelance transcriber, arranger, teacher and accompanist.

Singer: Carleen Ebbs

New Zealand Soprano Carleen Ebbs is currently on the post graduate programme at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama studying with Ameral Gunson.  She holds a Masters of Music from Victoria University of Wellington NZ, where she studied with Emily Mair.  Carleen was a member of the NBR NZ Opera Chorus, has been a nominee in the NZ Young Performer of the Year, and has performed the roles of Barbarina and the 1st Lady with orchestra.  This summer, Carleen will perform with Opera de Bauge in France, and she is currently singing the part of Aloyisha Weber in a new play called The Mozart Story by Montmirral Productions.

Andy Schneider is an emerging artist living and working in London. Combining manual processes, photography and digital scanning, he explores the nature of beauty, geometry and transformation.

Associated Links:

http://www.andrewschneider.com