Artistic alchemy, when it hits right, can astonish and astound, and sometimes it does so in quiet, poetic, and somber form. When that happens, something like a song and accompanying video transcend their physical boundaries and touch people in a way that proves the necessity of art in a world gone mad with so many other things.
Such is the beautiful experience that results from the recent collaboration between composer and producer Karel Barnoski and director and performer Summer Shapiro. Barnoski’s latest piece ‘November Moon’ stands alone for the wondrous way it pulls emotions and yearning from the inspiring journey of a November moon – but taken with Shapiro’s visual treatise on our pandemic existence, it takes on new import and expression.
Inspired by a moment of solitude in November of 2020, the music begins and ends in somber contemplation, and even at the midpoint in a release of gorgeous cascading arpeggios there is a sense of resignation and resolution in simply existing in the moment. Coupled with an extraordinary performance piece by Shapiro, in which her character all but goes through the entire emotional embodiment of what living during a pandemic can feel like, this project is one of those works of art that resonates because it’s so singular and yet so relatable.
The moon plays a role here in the title, as well as in the creative process (the video was shot during the full moon of November 2021, which was also the date of the longest lunar eclipse since ether 15th century). Seen, worshipped and adored by millions, the moon has only ever been alone – solitary orbiter of the earth – peeking at and reflecting the brilliance of the sun – and such solitude has lent her power, grace, magic, and solemnity. Those themes find creative expression in this music and the accompanying visuals, where the tension of creating art in the midst of being alone – particularly art that reaches out to the very heartstrings some of us are most afraid to pluck – results in an eerie state of release and hesitant exultation. Even in the final minute of the video, when the protagonist finds freedom and escape on a timeless seashore in a brilliant azure dress, she is utterly and supremely alone. Just like the moon.
{Karel Barnoski’s new single ‘ November Moon’ is available here.}
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