Saplings Records are proud to release Prelude to a Requiem by Flo Wilson (they/she). This is a 22 minute composition written to offer space during times of loss and adversity. It was originally commissioned by multi-disciplinary artist Rainbow Chan for Verge Gallery (Sydney, Australia) in 2018 as a quadraphonic audio-visual work. The composition in all iterations and formats is an offering to their community, a designated space for listeners to sit with their grief for as long as they need. As such it examines the extent of care we receive during traumatic times from our communities.

“In my experience having grown up in New Zealand (specifically as a Pākeha/ New Zealand European), there are not many ways people speak openly with each other about grief, unless they have experienced grief themselves.”
- Flo Wilson.

Helped by a Creative New Zealand grant, Saplings and Flo re-casted Prelude to a Requiem using the worldizing technique pioneered by Orson Welles. To this end, microphones were placed in a food forest in Ōtautahi (Christchurch). Prelude to a Requiem was then played through the Eyes Down Soundsystem into the forest while binaural microphones captured this moment. That recording and the original composition have been mixed for this release. The food forest is a restorative ecosystem, and inspired the feeling of a physical parallel to Flo’s composition.

As well as a restorative space, Prelude to a Requiem is a journal of Flo's experiences in coping and processing anticipatory grief. At the end of 2017, their life was significantly and suddenly affected when a loved one was given three months to live. As Flo moved cities to be closer to this person, they took field recordings of their environment as a kind of diary, eventually working them into the composition. Keen ears may listen for interaction between these original field recordings and birdsong in the food forest.

Flo Wilson is a sonic artist and performer based in Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland), Aotearoa (New Zealand). They have exhibited and performed their work internationally at NIME (USA), Verge Gallery (AUS), ACMC (AUS) and locally in New Zealand (Spark Arena, The Dowse, Audio Foundation) to name a few. In 2017 Flo independently released their debut EP '(Please) Keep Breathing', with a 2018 tape release on New Zealand experimental label mfmp. They were the co-artist in residence with Olivia Webb for the Toi Pōneke/ Te Kōkī Sound Art Residency 2017/2018. Flo is currently working with Dance Plant Collective, as well as contemporary dance choreographer and sister Bella Wilson towards a full-length dance show called ‘STRUCTURE’, which will be premiered later in 2022, after Flo’s first trip to the EU in summer.

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More Flo Wilson:

www.flowilson.com
twitter.com/floisawilson
www.instagram.com/iamflowilson

A note on pricing:

$5.50 US = Donated to Eden: People + Planet: edenprojects.org Remaining $1.50 covers bandcamp's commission and payment transfer fees.