Lara Jones Ensō +
Friday 26th - Sunday 28th May
6am - 9pm
Leeds Train Station
Free entry
Leeds Jazz Festival are delighted to present Lara Jones Ensō+ at Leeds Train Station from Friday 26th - Sunday 29th May 2023. The immersive, cinematic audio visual experience is based on field recordings of train journeys and monochrome visuals filmed across train stations in the UK. Audiences are invited to step inside the dome for a duration of their choice; to take a moment of pause, reflection and stillness amongst the chaos of the station.It will be based on the South Concourse within Leeds Train Station, directly in front of the windows as you come in the entrance on New Station Street, between Marks and Spencers and Caffé Nero Express.
Lara collected the sound and footage over the period of 1 year when she was regularly traveling between Leeds & London in a long distance relationship. Having lived in Leeds for many years, she met her partner who lived in London at St Pancras train station (where they were married a few years later!). They spent the first year of their relationship traveling between Kings Cross X St Pancras and Leeds Train Station.
During this time she noticed how the sounds of the station became a part of the soundtrack to her world - the sound of the train guards whistle giving anticipation, the whirring of the train wheels on the track and the beeping before the door closures sparking emotions and memories of nostalgia, love , longing and sentimentality. She collated these sounds and created the soundtrack she was hearing during her travels and initially released it as a saxophone & electronics album ‘Ensō’ before turning it into the physical installation Ensō +.
Inspired by zen practice, the Ensō circle is hand-drawn in one uninhibited brushstroke to express the complete and emptiness of that present moment. It represents a zen state of mind where everything and nothing exists. Lara discovered a deep connection to the sounds of the world around her and wanted to create a space that gave people the chance to do the same - to feel how these sometimes forgotten or ignored sounds affect us emotionally and physically.
She found the city to be fast paced and filled with noise, distractions & notifications; “Noise pollution is now a world problem. It would seem that the world soundscape has reached an apex of vulgarity in our time, and many experts have predicted universal deafness as the ultimate consequence unless the problem can be brought quickly under control.” (Schafer 1994, 1). During her time traveling she found gratitude in her freedom to move between place to place and recognised travel was a privilege.
This project is made possible with public funding from the National Lottery through Arts Council England and was originally supported through Cheltenham Jazz Festival Jerwood Jazz Encounters Programme, co-commissioned by Manchester Jazz Festival and funded by Jerwood Arts.
Lara would like to thank Leeds Jazz Festival and Leeds Train Station for commissioning and presenting Ensō +.