witchtrialversion3
"...a raging 35-minute response to the fate of the dozens of women tried for witchcraft in the Edinburgh area that obliterated their spoken names in a...welter of sound,
chaos and bagpipe noise"
witchtrialversion3 was an assembly-line performance over 3 days at Hidden Door Festival 2022. Assembling each of the 375 people accused of witchcraft in the Edinburgh area as an individually labelled yarrow stalk (wand). Each wand was then recited as an ongoing factory roll call. The yarrow stalks were then processed through a factory conveyor belt fitted with contact microphones accompanied by tape-manipulations of traditional Scottish instrumentation and both live and automated bagpipes. The accumulated wands subsequently assembled into a broom used to identify a guilty verdict from the attendees at each show.
Yarrow, also known as "melefoura" or "devil's plaything", is traditionally used in divination, this is a magical practice that has developed independently in different parts of the word, including in Scotland.
Date(s):
17,18,19.06.2022
Location:
New Parliament House, Hidden Door Festival, Edinburgh
Credits:
Merik Tiz - which?, factory operative, voice, pibroch
Michał Fundowicz - audio manipulation/loops
Cameron MacLeod - bagpipes
Supported by Take Me Somewhere: Studio Somewhere residency and Hidden Door Festival 2022.
