Jarman's Garden

Jarman's Garden is a garden filmmaker Derek Jarman built during his battle with an illness, Sherre Dely visited this garden after Jarman's death. Dely created an impressionistic rendering of the Gardens. Listening to the piece creates an image for me, using sounds normally associated with peace, for example, the sea, seagulls and chimes. I am listening to the piece for research, finding a starting point or inspiration for my audio project.

After my first listen, I didn't find the dialogue in the piece as interesting as the sounds that follow, but now listening to it I feel as if there is almost a purpose or a theme. Remembrance is the theme that comes to mind listening to the sounds, obviously the dialogue helps with understanding that the director Derek Jarman is the man this piece is remembering but I feel as if it is made as a place for listeners to 'come' for thought, almost like a garden.

The layers of sound are quite distinct with the sounds of the sea being key feature, sounds of seagulls, chimes, and some sort of beat comes in. All these thing have connotations of peace and possibly reflection. The beat that comes in nearer the end creates a sort of journey feel to it. I prefer the later sounds (ten minutes onwards) just because I don't feel as if I can personally connect with the dialogue, whereas with the sounds of the environment I feel relaxed and thoughtful. I want to create the same feeling of being able to imagine the place or sound physically.

http://www.thirdcoastfestival.org/library/4-jarman-s-garden