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  Indra’s Net stretches out infinitely in all directions and there is a glittering jewel in each node of the net, infinite in number. In each facet of each jewel there are reflected all the other jewels in the net and each of the jewels reflected in this one jewel also reflects all the other jewels
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 - Paraphrased by Francis H. Cook
 

I n d r a ' s  N e t
A collaboration between
visual artist Susan Haire and composer Stephen Dydo
London Ear Festival of Contemporary Music 20-24 March
Open to the public 16-23 April
The Cello Factory,
33- 34 Cornwall Road, Waterloo, London SE1 8TJ

Indra’s Net takes us on a journey through a series of responses to the ideas of reflection, contemplation and self-knowledge. Comprising of a series of installations it embodies the meeting of science and religion, nature and the self, as well as a breadth of contemplative images and ideas drawn from different philosophies, ancient and modern, spanning East to West in the process.

Included in the show is a series of works from Reflection shown in Peterborough Cathedral in 2012, an ambitious and highly successful solo exhibition that ranged across the entire Cathedral and which later toured to Western Connecticut State University, honouring the visit of his holiness, the Dalai Lama.

This is the first time the installations have been brought back to be displayed in Haire's native London. The show will also include new and other recent works that extend the metaphor of interconnectedness in different ways.

The exhibition extensively explores the idea of reflection through both light and sound. The sonic accompaniments provided by Dydo have been written specifically for each of the works. Short melodic fragments are repeated, mirrored, stretched and condensed into multiple reflections of themselves. It is the very reflections that occur in this multi-sensory experience that help unite the audience with the work, and bring forth the underlying concept of the exhibition's subject matter.

Indra's Net itself is a reference to an important Buddhist metaphor, and a platform for the artists' continuing examination of the interconnected and interdependent nature of all things.

To celebrate the display, there will also be a series of music and poetry recitals to accompany the show on various evenings throughout the week. See the Programme of Events for details or visit the Facebook page.

The exhibition will also be on show for visitors of the newly launched London Ear Festival of Contemporary Music, between the 20 and 24 of March. For further information and tickets, please visit www.londonearfestival.co.uk.
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Why reflection?


The tall structures that hang through The Cello Factory space convey in awe-inspiring fashion the exhibition's basis of light and sound, as well as a myriad of multi-faceted reflections and distortions.

Perhaps the centrepiece of the show, The Universe in a Single Atom contains 600 convex mirrored sunglass lenses, each reflecting the viewer in miniature simultaneously, inviting them to twirl or wave playfully.

In Enfolded Light, we see a sculpture that glimmers with an array of shattered DVDs. Here we witness a crucial dichotomy at the heart of Haire and Dydo's work, where fragments of modern life can be used to access a universal experience of reflection that is rooted in various different schools of ancient thinking from around the world.

By drawing on the western medieval tradition of Speculum, the audience is invited on a journey of self-reflection, using the mirror as an aid to the process of contemplation. Reflection is both the subject and the medium of Indra's Net.


Other new works...

Indra’s Net presents works from Reflection in a secular context and combines them with new and other recent works which look at interconnectedness in ways that embrace the organic through the ubiquitous materials of water and stone, and in particular through paintings that convey metaphorical.


About Susan Haire and Stephen Dydo

Susan Haire has displayed over twenty solo shows, almost all of which have been installations and often incorporating large-scale works. She has collaborated with composers, poets and playwrights for many years, and recitals and performances often play an important role in her exhibitions. Haire has been President of The London Group since 2007 and is currently actively overseeing the celebrations for the Group's centenary year in 2013.

New York composer Stephen Dydo has written a large number of pieces for media ranging from ancient Asian instruments, contemporary chamber and orchestral ensembles, to electronic and video resources which have been performed throughout the US, Europe and Asia. He is also a classical guitarist and qin (Chinese lute) player.

Dydo and Haire have been working together since 2006 making collaborative installations. They have produced seven previous exhibitions including Watermusic at outLINE in Amsterdam in 2010, as well as riverrun which was displayed at both the Hammond Museum, North Salem NY in 2008 and the International Water House in The Hague in 2010. Haire states, 'it has always been very important for me to be able to include other elements of work that build on, and add new perspective to my art.' You can find out more about Dydo and Haire's collaborative projects at www.dydo-haire.com

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Looking Beneath the Surface & Secret Mirror

Detail taken from Looking Beneath The Surface (Mirror and Card).
Secret Ladder (shattered DVDs)
                     

Notes for the Editor & Listings Information:

The Cello Factory, 33-34 Cornwall Road, Waterloo, London SE1 8TJ

Nearest Tube/Rail: Waterloo

Email: info@thecellofactory.com,    mail@susanhaire.com

Website: www.susanhaire.com www.dydomusic.com

Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/pages/Susan-Haire/337121986399303

Exhibition open to visitors of the London Ear Festival of Contemporary Music: 20-24 March

Gallery Open to Public: 16-23 April, 12-6 daily