Conceptual framework:

The core notion is to listen, “through” the iconography my singing masks, to local small-scale environments, covering a range from the truly mundane (e.g. grass growing through cracks in a sidewalk) to more conventionally beautiful (e.g. spots in the Arboretum that's adjacent to where I live), and to offer a prayer to the environment with mask(s), “performing” a little sacred ceremony. I might also “sound” various of the materials that are present and make slight alterations in the arrangement of the materials according to an intuited sense of energy flows and “suggestions” from the place itself. The prayerful nature of the activity is intended to heighten a sense of connection and to contribute positive and healing energy to the worl through channels that are not always obvious.

I will document these private prayers with audio recording and either still or motion photography, or both. As the documentation accrues, I will process the materials to shape accompanying audio/visual environments for public ritual presentation along the lines of other of my singing mask ceremony/performance work.

I will also develop a web page devoted to presenting various aspects of the prayer sessions. Another possibility is to produce a film version of the prayers, not just as documentary, but conceived and structured itself as a ceremonial event.

While starting out locally, my grandiose hope is to be able to visit many locations around the world, to listen, to pray, in my own small and personal way to bring peace and joy into the world, along with nurturing connection to all the intricate web of life that sustains us.

Norman Lowrey
February 29, 2004

The Score:

"All finite things reveal infinitude" -Theodore Roethke

Every location, however small or seemingly insignificant, may be thought of as a holographic image containing the whole, a kind of portal into infinity. With this in mind, all present are invited to select a small territory anywhere within the gathering space, to listen intently, and to offer a prayer to/through this portal. This localized, particular place may be thought of as an altar. Feel free to temporarily rearrange anything in this space, to add your own objects, to contribute further to making the space sacred. Your prayer may be completely silent or vocalized in any way you wish. As you pray, Singing Masks will function as resonators, amplifying all prayers into DreamTime. A soundscape of Singing Mask private prayers together with dreambird and katydid sounds will accompany the public ritual. If you want, you may offer as many prayers, moving to different locations, as you wish.