Laura Bowler and Cordelia Lynn, Houses Slide. London Sinfonietta, Aszodi, Edwards, Mitchell. Royal Festival Hall, 9 July 2021.

Abstract

At its beginning Houses Slide is raised from complete darkness by 16 cyclists. Their pedalling powers the show; its constant woosh is the pedal point against which Laura Bowler's music is played. Both impressive and absurd, pedalling fast but getting nowhere, these cyclists are an apt symbol for the questions that Houses Slide raises. This London Sinfonietta commission explores the consciousness of the ecologically conscious. At the heart of the piece lies a paradox that has become part of our collective and personal anxiety. We are repeatedly told two contradictory things: that our actions are utterly disastrous (for example, heating the world, killing the whales) and, at the same time, that they are too insignificant to create positive change. How can we be simultaneously so dangerous and so ineffective? And what can we (guilty yet useless creatures as we are) do? These are the questions that come to mind as we listen to the recorded text that accompanies the piece throughout. This text is a verbatim record of personal testimonies gathered through the artists' call out to the public to submit answers to questions about how they've experienced the climate changing and what it makes them feel. Some speak of the disappearance of moths and hedgehogs, others of unseasonal snow or floods, and one voice candidly says that they haven't experienced any change at all, but they believe the scientists who tell them that change, the crisis, is happening.