Alyssa Aska - (micro)Tonal Points (2025)

This video is inspired by the poem "A Compression of Hours Both Glacial and Blue" by Vancouver-based poet Elee Kraljii Gardiner.

Read more about Elee here: https://eleekg.com/

*****
A Compression of Hours Both Glacial and Blue

So soften: soften the line inside. So
silently we touch the space between surfaces
when we suspend even as particles, ventricles
pause in the pump and there—
at the top of the jump we see detail
sketched to pin: a galaxy aware in between the huff
of inside, outside. How we contain multiple
rotations between home to ice: ice to home.
This is how we teach our cells to confuse the two,
translate comfort as effort, refuse single
interpretations. Doubling, we become ourselves
in this dome of movement. We will be muscled
among memory of the lightest future
while we slide within tracings layered
hour into hour by the every other.

*****

*About the piece:*
(micro)Tonal Points uses sounds sourced from the Viscount E-organ, combined with video footage of figure skating performances. A microphone attached to my skate blade acts as a musical controller, affecting the volume and duration of played notes.

The visual and musical elements form both clear and abstract relationships, allowing the viewer to drift between connection and ambiguity.

More information about my work: [www.alyssa-aska.com](http://www.alyssa-aska.com)

Special thanks to Martin Ritter for video editing and assistance: [www.martin-ritter.com](http://www.martin-ritter.com)