The August Forecast by Ashleigh Musk

Ashleigh Musk (alongside GUTS Dance) joined us for The Makers Program back in May to continue development of a new work, SUB. The words below respond to and discuss the concepts acknowledged during the creation of this work with collaborators Frankie Snowdon, Madeleine Krenek, Pierce Eldridge and Léuli Eshrāghi.

SUB

Edge of humanity, outer limits, upper reaches. Tunneling under we link up with previously existing ecosystems, colonies of those already accustomed to living this way, adapted and adapting. Nature’s technologies are abundant and giving in survival. Writhing earth, the worms and the ants carve tunnels in the soil, feeding and destroying. Or did we destroy? Driven underground, drilling down, taking precious plastic, precious metal, precious rubbish. Defining humanity.

Time capsules - we are burying everything.

There will be no dig to uncover what we thought important. Stare into the abyss. Stare into the deep space, contemplate emptiness. The fullness of the invisible gifts. We have to see it to believe it? Undeniable beauty in incredible tragedy. Dive deeper, crack through the disappearing ice. Glaciers fall. Volcanoes rumble from the deep. Exposed craters allow us to stare directly into the earth, to the core. Do we examine our own core? Separate from her? I am. We are. Gather rubble, siphon and shift it away. Co-existence. Core existence. Core values. Core needs. Will these change the closer we get to the core? Claustrophobia, compression, weight pours down, bearing you closer to the earth.

Scramble for purchase on the craggy cliff face.

Artificial light bulbs, firearms, tins of tomatoes - will we need nothing else to survive? What do we take into the next place? How to summarise millions of years of history? Will anyone care? Will we learn or will we continue as stubborn as ever? Ladders as vessels of transportation between bunker and skyscraper. Scale. Time. We are nothing in this timescale, yet we are profoundly attached to our own importance. Profound, deep, sota, subterranean, under, down, abaix, bajar, internal earth, internal cos/body.

We could become the seed for new growth. We destroy seeds with impatience for new growth. Time. Slow time. No passing of seasons, no sunrises, no sunsets, no natural wake up calls by the early morning bird. No wind, no rain. No sense of something greater than us? Or a greater sense of an un-sense-able, invisible higher power? Will we find peaceful paradises? Will we speculate about the survival of other colonies? Will we dig for them? Interlacing tunnels, mycelium connections, secret messages sent along the trenches? Scatter of objects to help us navigate in our underground labyrinth? Will we sense regrowth? Will the roots burrow down into our constructed shelters? Will we hibernate like the great bears? Will we know when to re-emerge?

no time

to waste

burrow into your shelter

prepare

make preparations

store

contain (excess)

hoard

board your windows

conceal your entrances

guard well your tunnels

don't reveal

this is a wild chase

survival of the prepared

practiced hibernator

stretching time

waiting it out

only to re-emerge in a false world

sun not quite shining

wind from an enormous vent

sky falling

grass on the roof

concealed

buried

treasure

alongside skeletons

rubbish

undesired objects

hidden from sight

out of mind

out of time

space is a commodity

what skill do you bring?

controlled environments

controlled relationships

control-more control

we harness nature through her exploitation

we know the risk

yet we persist

decision-making

future-proofing

past-forgetting

don't remember

there is

only this

horizon

no other way to go.

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MEET THE ARTIST: ASHLEIGH MUSK

Ashleigh Musk (she/her) is a dancer, choreographer, producer and community arts facilitator. She uses the body as the central tool for creation, alongside text, object and space, creating works that balance darkness and fear with light, hope and reflection. Ashleigh uses movement as a vehicle to spark empowerment, celebration and change, encouraging active witnessing by audiences and participants.