we are opposite like that (vinyl)

This limited edition is based on Himali Singh Soin's commission we are opposite like that, with an original score by David Soin Tappeser. The vinyl continues the ongoing series of interdisciplinary works comprising fictional mythologies for the poles, told from the non-human perspective of an elder that has witnessed deep time: the ice. The film was originally co-commissioned and produced by Forma and Frieze for the Frieze Artist Award 2019. Read more about the series here.

Launched on 24 November, 6.30-9pm at Presse Books.

The first side of the release features an original composition for string quartet, inspired by field recordings from the Arctic and Antarctic circle, composed by David Soin Tappeser. The music was conceived as a score to accompany Himali Singh Soin’s eponymous video work we are opposite like that (2019), which recounts the tale of the omnipresent anxiety in Victorian England of an imminent glacial epoch. The disorienting fear of an invasive periphery sent shudders through the colonial enterprise, the tremors of which can be felt in contemporary times.

The second side comprises Subcontinentment, a manifesto that posits a South Asian Futurism, anti-chronicling the geopoetic links between the poles and the Indian subcontinent. The extra-terrestrial echoes of stones skimming on frozen lakes sound like firecrackers, blackening the air. The soundscape is set against the image of an alien figure from the equator traversing the blank, oblivious whiteness, slowly transforming into glimmering ice. 

The we are opposite like that vinyl was produced by Forma, with support from the Arts Council England and Focal Point Gallery.

Listen to the digital release