Manja Ristić & Mark Vernon

Manja Ristić & Mark Vernon – Calypso’s Dream
Meagre Resource / mere028 DL

“Cruel folk you are, unmatched for jealousy, you gods who cannot bear to let a goddess sleep with a man.” (Calypso to Hermes, who has just ordered her to release Odysseus. Homer, Odyssey 5.120)

Calypso’s Dream is a soundscape collection sculpted from the subtle sonic morphologies of the micro-environments on the island of Mljet in the South Adriatic. The collection serves as a conceptual counterpoint to Homer’s Odyssey and a critical reflection on commercial island attractions such as Odysseus’s Cave, where he was supposedly held captive for seven long years by the nymph Calypso.

In search of a different gender approach to the ancient Greek myth and its contemporary commercial appropriation, we created a simple narrative from Calypso’s perspective, inspired by the work of the renowned writer Margaret Atwood, who wrote The Penelopiad, and tried to unravel the archetypal mystery by narrating the Odyssey from the perspective of his wife Penelope, who was left for 20 years to defend the kingdom and raise their children.

Calypso’s Dream is an attempt to create a symbolic micro-episode of The Penelopiad within the medium of sound art, woven from the dense spectrum of the island’s biophony, instrumental and improvised narratives, critically reflecting on the commercial appropriation of culture, advocating for the importance of a listening culture, and emphasizing the urgency of raising ecological awareness.

The island of Mljet is one of the oldest European protected natural zones, still, there is so much more that can be done to keep this Adriatic marvel away from harsh trends of mass tourism.

Reviews:

“Calypso’s Dream is not quite what it first seems… Teeming sounds of water provide the platform for beautiful and haunting melodies, which seem to be carried on the wind and whose source is mysterious.”

Derek Walmsley, The Wire Magazine (December, 2024)

“Ristić and Vernon turn Mljet into another character in the drama, letting the place speak for itself by recording its environment and wildlife. In these dramatic recordings, the island has a story of its own to tell: one of myth made into money. As more of the island’s resources are dedicated to its tourist hot spot, the further away Calypso’s dream becomes.”

The Best Field Recordings on Bandcamp, Matthew Blackwell (September, 2024)

Reviews in Full

“On the Croatian island of Mljet is an attraction called Odysseus’s Cave, so named because it bears a superficial resemblance to Homer’s description of Ogygia, where the hero was kept captive for seven years by the nymph Calypso. Never mind that Mljet is not Ogygia; the fictional correspondence between the two brings in a lot of tourist dollars. On Calypso’s Dream, Manja Ristić and Mark Vernon flip this episode of the Odyssey on its head by considering the event from Calypso’s point of view, from Odysseus’s shipwreck to Calypso’s dream of their life together to Hermes’s message from Zeus that she must let him go. “This man alone, clutching the keel, was swept by wind and wave, and came here, to my home. I cared for him and loved him, and I vowed to set him free from time and death forever,” she responds in Emily Wilson’s recent translation. Ristić and Vernon turn Mljet into another character in the drama, letting the place speak for itself by recording its environment and wildlife. In these dramatic recordings, the island has a story of its own to tell: one of myth made into money. As more of the island’s resources are dedicated to its tourist hot spot, the further away Calypso’s dream becomes.”

The Best Field Recordings on Bandcamp, Matthew Blackwell, Sept 2024

“Calypso’s Dream is s collection of soundscapes made by Serbian sound artist Manja Ristić and Scottish sound artist Mark Vernon who sculpted sonic morphologies of the micro-environments of the Croatian island of Mljet in the South Adriatic Sea, one of the oldest European protected natural zones.

In the Greek mythology, Calypso was a beautiful nymph who lived on the fictional island of Ogygia, where, according to Homer’s Odyssey, she detained Odysseus for seven years against his will, wanting to marry him. Calypso promised Odysseus immortality if he would stay with her, but Odysseus preferred to return to his home in Ithaca. Eventually, after the intervention of the other gods, Calypso is forced to let Odysseus go. «Cruel folk you are, unmatched for jealousy, you gods who cannot bear to let a goddess sleep with a man», Calypso answered to Hermes, the herald of the gods, who ordered her to release Odysseus.

Calypso’s Dream attempts to offer a conceptual-symbolic sonic counterpoint, a critical, gender approach to Homer’s Odyssey and a critical reflection on the commercial appropriation of tourist attractions such as Odysseus’s Cave in Babino Polje in southern Croatia, where Odysseus was supposedly held captive. Ristić and Vernon were inspired by the work of renowned Canadian writer-poet Margaret Atwood, who wrote The Penelopiad (2005), where she tried to unravel the archetypal mystery by narrating the Odyssey from the perspective of Odysseus’s wife, Penelope, who was left for twenty years to defend the Ithaca kingdom and raise their children.

Calypso’s Dream suggests Calypso’s perspective to the ancient myth, through nuanced yet suggestive-cinematic sound art, woven from the dense spectrum of the island of Mljet’s rich and unique biophony, with sparse, atmospheric layers. This thoughtful, enigmatic sound art insists that the history of this region is much more complex than the one told in Homer’s myth. Furthermore, the tourism of the southern Adriatic is its own kind of Odyssey, marked by numerous shipwrecks, losses, and devastation, directly affecting the environment that has been shaped over millennia.

Ristić and Vernon claim that too often we fail to listen. Therefore Calypso’s Dream is guided by the concept of mnemosonics — listening to the memory of places, an exploration of the subtle sonic identity of the island of Mljet, with an emphasis on its lakes and forested areas, and some karst pits, using hydrophone recording techniques, field recording, found sounds and the amplification of found objects. The album includes text and photos by Ristić on the history and the biodiversity of the island.”

Eyal Hareuveni, Salted Peanuts Nov, 2024

Manja Ristić & Mark Vernon – Sound Postcards from the Centre of the Periphery
Meagre Resource / mere027 DL

This album unites two specific sensibilities that for many years have been embedded in the domain of sound and radio arts. Although they arose from very different environments, their work explores similar issues around preserving personal sonic histories. By stirring up nostalgia and collective memory, both artists often refer to the importance of individual experiences in the poetic “body” of micro-communities.

The artistic practice of both creators has been deeply immersed in the sonic strata of space and the imaginary narratives that emerge from it. A dedication to the culture of memory, the sounding of lost voices and an unorthodox approach to re-composing the soundscape, conveniently unites these two experimenters in a collaboration that arises from research into one particularly inspiring locality – the island of Korčula.

In addition to their own field recordings the artists were given access to the audio archives of the local radio station, including sounds of local folk customs, traditional songs, festivities and music. The strong anthropological emphasis in this collection of works is intended to encourage a deeper consideration of the coexistence of people and the environment in a historically dense climate. The appropriation of the hidden narratives of a small town on the fringes of the European Union opens up new fields of reflection on identity that looks back at the “center of the periphery”, pointing to the importance of “small” spaces in the creation of European heritage.

The self released album is available as a download through Bandcamp here.

‘Sound postcards from the center of the periphery’ will be stored permanently in the audio archives of Radio Korčula. Who knows, maybe someone will dig them out in 50 years and say: “…there you go! This will make your head ring!”

Special thanks to Radio Korčula, Gordana Šuperak and Ivan Sardelic Šore. To Pere from the Marasa printing house and to all the fellow citizens of Korčula who found themselves on this album intentionally or accidentally.