Written by: Carol Watts
Sound production by: Will Montgomery
[audio:http://cordite.org.au/audio/TREE-improvisation.mp3|titles=T.R.E.E. (Total Rare Earth Elements)]
T.R.E.E. (Total Rare Earth Elements) (8:59)
inoculate me
1
rare e arth
rare rth
r air earth
It is a simple life under the sun all day without decent water to drink or to wash in / but I never had a sister / the nature of daily life and the coming on is not dramatic / what would a mother do / and yet you do not take it in / what is the occasion for / and rain coming on / I had no advantage in this timing / this timing / without pointing to it before / as much death as anyone could handle / its musculature / taking a skinful and it would not / take / our growing immunity is of the wrong kind / perhaps you did not take it in / she said /
2
washed up / I was washed up on this / shingle / what perfect information / where / but I see you / nothing is invented / in neural pathways / I am queasy and emotional / what is redundant about a way forward / without decent water to drink or to wash in / is it actively managed / he’s here / how do you know / what is on my plate / the cycle is almost complete / my father was too young / this is not happening exactly / us / you’ve been trained well / April / held together by / rare earth magnets / damaged a digestive tract / gradually I grow / darker / I can offer few examples / letters obtrude / there is no need to change / I have many sisters but no mother / what would she / think / it spread so fast / her scalp was alive with it / take it in / she said you do not take it / in /
3
small inhalings / would have protected for centuries / without surgical intervention / this daily life / inter / venes / the hawk adjusts / the marshes were rank close by / but there was clarity / it is too late for / me / words have talked their way / so superficial when / such violence / obtains / I think what is next / where do I / walk / what jetty extends / silence / no do I walk / this jetty / because something / will / follow / I / take it in to myself / this jetty is / on my tongue / is / my tongue / I hurried elsewhere yet / what was in my bones / repeated close to the skull / look look / a pale light / I was born into this / uh – o uh – o / I do regret not seeing you / while you knew / asking / what a move / I must learn to ‘take it in’ /
4
I’m scared to ask / if you are just going / to / interrupt / there goes angel! / and my jetty / runs out from the shore / sunshine / let me choose to live / and roar / in leaf spoil / sunshine wins / sound of crying birds / it took tremendous fortitude / to survive this / elimination bout / we leave tomorrow / and off it goes / coffee in the sun / I will walk the marsh / one more instance of / regret / without paragraphs / syllabic / procedures / and groups of other women / look look / I am / one / among bones / the world isn’t an equal place / it is a simple life / disappeared and working / at that time / what delivers disembarks / at last / pieced / where I am in rewarded / my tongue makes / gatekeepers / turn on their / confessions / causing / her death / look look /
5
spoken / flayed truth / burnt / eyeless / he said ‘it’s beyond me’ / ‘are you dumb’ / we watched it me and my wife / dealt with abuse / and made proposals / any reasonable / storm arriving / get the money / she was beaten in the streets / it was Beirut / her bag / on the peg / paying / wilful act I / would be observed / under nine hours’ time / I escalate / requiring Russia / I stockpile / clinical data / my heart is swollen / there is a problem of openness / what are my charges / all that to be decided / my walk along the jetty / is a frightening scenario / my child was sleeping / workers and guests / evacuated / unscathed / a hawk adjusts / over state television / over buildings and mudflats / over unemployment / black spots / of body weight / this footage / is a frightening scenario / my children do not / ‘know she has gone’ / colder for all of us /
6
clouds will build / now the real battle / still a mixture / of sinking caught on / tv last month / it comes back to attack / my heart / beats a black earth / so rare / it is so rare / to speak it / something fails / thickens / by caesarian section / sterilised / it is a kind of stealth / too many words / he says ‘will you pick me up’ / it was Thursday / unsanitary conditions / insane conditions / pertain / do you remember / your key / what might depart from here / how do I / depart from here / waggling tongues / are thickening meat / like hearts / long streams / she carries her child / there would be no others / her voice was indistinct / the recording carried by / mule / how her bones would / know it / in pelvic / reckoning / I / lay / me / down / in rare earth /
7
yes words sink / as shit does / without circulation / the place he wrote it in her book / I / rub / rubbed it out / we rubbed it out / while learning number / the shame of number / lay under the bridge / or / ‘I feel like a ghost’ / she said / get off the train / it went over the bridge / he was / preaching / hate / I was preaching / hate / the state / liked me / ‘he can’t get off’ / ‘it’s still moving’ / free speech mounted in larks / I will report you / get thee to caesarians / she smuggled her belly / over borders / yes the sun / came out / but caves were full of / snakes / low drone of Antonin / irked my femurs / clavicles rang / in the night / you might find / rest / comes up in a rash / or in / redistribution / how shrunk am I / by daybreak / if you are ‘one of them’ / in time / I come to know / extent /
8
he was blocking the way / she began / to / panic / age had come on / beforehand / that worm of memory / ate / out / holes / she could not recall / why she stood there / her eyes were taken / he pulverised / her good intentions / and here comes the plane / over the rocks / here comes the train / over the bridge / hide hide / among the clavicles / something was made and / eaten / the jetty was / too far off / it was Saturday / and stilled / there was no reply / I did not answer / this man / will be reported / behind me / he / was / drab / ethical talk / does it / oh / it is a simple life / under the sun all day / these / total / elements / I take them / in / where / where / to walk / without / water / I lay me / down / inoculate / me / do / you / find / immunity / in / rare / earth
A text score for vocal performance originally generated through pencil drawings of wood from a cold shore, the latter now an artist’s book.
Prompted by a phrase from Jackson Mac Low’s ‘It is a Simple Life’, and in collaboration with processed field recordings of tree creaks made by sound artist Will Montgomery.
T.R.E.E. is an ongoing collaborative process. It was exhibited as an artist’s book and audio work in the exhibition Time, the deer, is in the wood of Hallaig in 2013. The text has had numerous iterations, including an improvisatory performance at the Sounds New Festival in 2014 by Carol Watts and ‘neolithic soul drone collective’, Hand of Stabs.
