Mother Tongue is an exploration into language and expectation, how the two coincide and inform our daily decisions. I began by looking into memory and how it forms our sense of self, self-narration and choice of language that we use. This pushed me to look into language on a less arbitrary level.
In this video I have collected a lot of this research and tried to represent my findings in a visual form. The audio is solely a representation of Type one diabetes which is also a common theme throughout the video, for my own sense of self, my own narrative tone and body language; diabetes plays a rather large role. It is a language in itself, one you have to continuously learn and grow with.
I have used a mixture of my own videography alongside archival footage I came across during my research. I created my own animations and drawings to further depict my findings.
Patrick Shepherd created the song. We worked together to discuss extensively how a low and high blood sugar may feel and how we can best represent this, but in short, he gives a more accurate description of his making process here;
"The sound sources are a combination of recordings, modular synthesis and ritual instruments. The 3 notes heard throughout in the piano were used to depict the stable blood sugar levels, then using randomised sequencer and wavetable synthesis made in max map, I created an increasingly random and chaotic texture resembling when blood sugars go too high or too low. Finally, I reflect the day-t-day need to ensure blood sugars are kept at a stable level. I also recorded two knives rubbing together to create the metallic sound resembling needles. I recorded cans opening and packets rustling to represent the importance of food and controlling and counting everything to ensure good blood sugar control. "
The link to watch is here;
https://youtu.be/OcfaT1W9D_s
