HANGİSİ?/WHICH ONE?
Breaking Free from the Bipolar Walls of Our Mind Prisons
If art is to save our lives, it can start by saving us from the prisons of our minds. Our minds… that jungle of consciousness which constantly zigzags inside a bipolar, judgmental space, trying to find balance between clashing thoughts and feelings with every step we take and every breath we draw in our lives.
The younger we are, the longer we travel between extremes. Life seems endless, and we sway a lot. But as we grow older, time flows faster, and we learn to move shorter distances between our contrasting ideas. We begin to carefully measure time and the balance we achieve.
But how can we escape this pendulum prison? How can we carry on with our lives without obsessing over walking the middle path and maintaining balance at all times? I searched for a tool to help. Naturally, I turned to music-making. I would break through these bipolar walls by singing—letting my voice sway as it questions the situation—so I could freely enjoy my human existence between the ever-narrowing distances of my judgments.
So, I sat at the piano, recalling a weird yet enjoyable mirroring exercise once suggested by the great Chick Corea in a YouTube video. I divided the keyboard into two halves to recreate the bipolar space of our minds—a space where we zigzag in search of “the best” solution.
Taking the key Gb as the center point, I started pressing symmetrical keys, creating a rhythmic pattern and some chord progressions. I set a medium tempo on my metronome and let my voice sway, asking bipolar questions through my improvised song. After two months of practicing the song, I put the metronome aside and, listening to the inner rhythm in my mind, began recording the piece for Be Still Media.
When I reached the outro part of the song, I made an improvisational twist. I deconstructed the symmetrical chord system, pressing keys that were no longer positioned symmetrically. At that point, I began repeating the miserable question: “Is there a single answer? A single solution?” Finally, to mock myself, I pressed the center key (Gb), which had remained untouched throughout the song.
During post-production, I added some auxiliary elements. I filmed my hands making so-called symmetrical movements, and with these hands, I played with children’s marbles—because we need the courage and freedom of a child on this journey of emancipation. I also wanted to experiment with the central metaphor: the pendulum space, my metronome. I explored its interactions with distractions! What would it do when tied with strings or tangled in a tape measure? How would it feel if it were measured? What different messages would it give off if the light of reality hit it from varying angles? And how would this relate to the paradoxical ebbs and flows of our mind prisons?
Additionally, I applied analog echo to my vocal track, so the sound of the keyboard and my singing voice would zigzag between the imaginary walls of my mind prison.
The resulting video does not aim to answer anything but serves as a starting point for the soul’s emancipation from the mind’s prison. Because I believe that this journey takes far longer than a single song.
Thank you,
Sanat Deliorman
Sanat Deliorman
WATCH THE VIDEO FROM HERE
Some extract from the keyboard action when playing chords for the song HANGISI?