The Magic of a Total Lunar Eclipse as captured and aurally transmitted by Marcel, the cat.

Some time ago there was a total lunar eclipse to be observed in Melbourne. I was in bed watching through the large windows how the garden, magically lit up by the full moon, gradually transformed and darkened till virtually pitch black when the eclipse reached its totality some time around midnight. At that precise moment, the cat Marcel who lives in that house jumped on my bed, pressed himself gently against me and started purring deeply, loudly and regularly for what seemed a long time. I put my ear on his body listening, which put me into what one might call an alpha-brain-wave state. There was a sense of timelessness and unity with all creation: no past or future, no separation but a complete sense of oneness with all life and a tranquil happiness.

THE SOUND ART:

It occurred to me to record Marcel purring during this eclipse. The purring is the only sound source used; however, as the work progresses, at times I processed these purring sounds to various degrees and at times I left them in their natural state, forming a multi-layered whole.

THE KEY CONCEPT OR PHILOSOPHICAL PREMISE:

All is energy or vibration forming unique ‘constellations’ at any given time which cannot be pulled apart. The event and ‘energy’ of the lunar eclipse is encapsulated in that particular purr. It is no mere coincidence. The two are intrinsically linked, bound up with each other producing a whole. It can be argued, that Marcel’s purr would be the same at any other given time. I propose, this would not be the case. By recording Marcel during the eclipse, I also ‘recorded’ the energy or vibrations of that eclipse. The cat, due to its animal nature is not cluttered by a mind full of busy thoughts and preconceived ideas like humans, and therefore becomes a kind of transmitter for the cosmic phenomenon of the eclipse, which then manifests itself aurally in the purring.
The purring of a cat is naturally conducive to a less stressful, more meditative state of being but, I suggest, magnified here by the added phenomenon of the eclipse.
PEOPLE CAN BRING YOGA MATS OR SIMILAR TO EXPERIENCE THE WORK LYING DOWN ON THE FLOOR. AN EXCHANGE OF IDEAS, IMPRESSIONS, A DEBATE ABOUT THE CONCEPT CAN TAKE PLACE AFTER LISTENING, IF PEOPLE WISH.