Songsmith, Cradle of Humankind Collection, 10|10

Songsmith (Cradle of Humankind)

Collection of 10 unique artworks

Jenna Burchell

10/10

2017

Chert, kiaat, resin, copper alloy, speaker, circuit

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THE SONGSMITH PROJECT

Songsmith (n.)(v.phr.)

A golden instrument that repairs or transforms an object or place in order to reveal an aural narrative.

Beginning in 2015 and continuing into 2019 I've been working on a project called Songsmith. In this project I restore broken objects and sites by embedding into them golden sound instruments that I call ‘songsmith’. Once a songsmith is bound within a place or object, the resulting sound sculpture or public intervention responds to a person’s touch by revealing song; individually composed songs that sing of people, places and events as they fall into, and rise from, the vicissitudes of time.

What at first seemed to be a personal endeavor of self healing evolved stochastically over time to resonate with greater societal histories and traumas; connecting individuals, communities, and places. In the words of Ashraf Jamal, “Burchell seeks to understand that within us which can survive ruin”.

Songsmith is above all else an assertion of life and its beauty, not in spite of, but in acknowledgment of ruin. Songsmith refocused my practice as a means to explore and find a ways to preserve the fragile and ephemeral nature of memory, knowledge and experience. Especially the songs, stories, and histories that live inside of silence.

As an evolving project Songsmith it is never complete, rather it sits continuously within my career and life as an artist

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SONGSMITH ANCIENT ROCK SERIES

In late 2015 Burchell began work on a triptych made from ancient rocks found in three prehistoric, geographic locations: the Cradle of Humankind, the Great Karoo, and the Vredefort Dome. This triptych is formed into three collections named after their geographic locations. Burchell chose these sites as they each represent a moment of time wherein the world shifted: they are small and delicate markers of immutable change in our ancient history.

“Although Burchell’s [Ancient Rock] Songsmith series is primarily about deep trauma in geological histories and the radical shifts they brought about, they also parallel societal horizon extinctions and trauma. Her work suggests that perhaps by embracing and acknowledging the stories of fractures, shifts and trauma as she has done in Songsmith we can live differently.”

- Lucinda Jolly, Business Day

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SONGSMITH CRADLE OF HUMANKIND COLLECTION DETAILS

Songsmith (Cradle of Humankind)

Event Age - 10 Million

Collection Size - 10 Artworks

The Cradle of Humankind collection makes tangible the sites ancient evolutionary past as the birthplace of man around 10 million years ago. The collection was completed in 2017 and is privately owned.