Sound work and scores by Elaine Mitchener on display at Mount Stuart
Vocal and movement artist Elaine Mitchener presented a site specific performance-installation titled | tongues of fire | yearning… | a communion with the invisible | in Mount Stuart’s iconic Marble Hall in September. Now, a sound work will be available to audiences in the Marble Chapel alongside scores by Mitchener in the Marble Hall from Monday 28 September - 18 October.
Mitchener’s unique programme is inspired by events and objects reflecting the layered histories of Mount Stuart. From newspaper reports of the devastating 1877 fire, destroying much of the original Georgian house, to uncovered familial relationships deduced from close consideration of an eighteenth century portrait, Mitchener’s new work is a layered response to a remarkable setting.
In September, performed in the magical Marble Hall, under the starscape ceiling and zodiac stained glass windows, two evening performances mesmerised audiences. A new sound work derived from the ‘found sounds’ that featured as part of the performance, has been edited into a new work to be experienced in the Marble Chapel.
Alongside the new sound work, Elaine Mitchener will present a series of her scores to the viewing public for the first time in the Marble Hall, including the black and white score for | tongues of fire | yearning… | a communion with the invisible |. Interspersed with the scores are guided hand paintings, created by Mitchener using her hand or found objects dipped in paint or ink. Previously only shown on the cover of her album Solo Throat, this collection of works evokes a practice of embodied listening: capturing spontaneous hand movements while listening to music.
In the Dining Room close to grand family portraits, visitors can also witness the painting from the Bute Collection that inspired Mitchener’s new work. The portrait hanging in Mount Stuart by Pietro Longhi c. 1770 has gold lettering describing the sitters as “Edward Wortley Montagu and his attendant” however, close observation and research by Mitchener challenged this narrative, recognising that the young man standing beside the seated Edward as his young son Massoud Fortunatus Wortley Montagu (1762-1778). After his father’s death, Massoud Fortunatus moved under guardianship to England, where he lived until his death in 1798.
This new development in Elaine Mitchener’s commission for Mount Stuart’s Contemporary Visual Arts Programme expands the programme for audiences, allowing visitors to experience this extraordinary work, rooted in layers of research into the site’s histories.