"My Body is a Temple..."
Last week I went to visit the Hamilton Mausoleum which was a truly amazing experience. The structure itself looked very surreal in its surroundings; it stands as a temple amongst shopping centres and resonates from a completely different time. The Mausoleum reminded me of some of the buildings I visited last year whilst travelling Italy. It felt a bit like I was re-visiting spaces I had already entered, but yet in a completely different context...there was a familiarity about the structure that I already connected to. The Mausoleum itself is an amazing structure, for one no one can tell when the the building was finally completed and as you explore the site, you find visual metaphors everywhere that link back to the cycles of life. One of my favourite parts of the monument is situated at the rear of the Mausoleum, which leads to the crypt in the vaulted basement. Placed infront of the vaults are 3 gates that give way to different entrances, one for the dead, one for the living and one for the imortal. Above these gaits, 3 statue heads were placed to represent the stages of life: Life, Death and Immortality. What is wonderful and rather intriguing is that the statue that represents life is the one that has the most damage with the features of the face all eroded and weathered, then following lies death, which is slightly less touched and lastly immortality which stands almost perfect, the face is clear. The language of the building invites so many mysteries and has an aura of complete magic. I felt completely drawn to the building, and this was even before I had entered it...
When I went inside the main chamber I was immediately overwhelmed by the shear size of the space. As you entered it you were immediately aware of your presence and resonance. The building is made of stone and when inside you saw many ritualistic and religious symbols like the all seeing eye placed in the ceiling, the steps to heaven hidden within the floor, and the corners of the chamber, each represented the different circles of life...The Hamilton Mausoleum is listed as the building with the longest echo in the world, with the sound reverberating for 18 seconds and continuously spiralling into the atmosphere... When projecting into it I felt my body completely disappear, and for a moment I was just my voice and the energy projecting from inside me. It is in that moment of projecting that you disappear, you become just a sound and an invisible body living through the space itself. It is the purest form of existing, just listening to ones own resonance...It really is like experiencing some sort of ritualistic awakening, in that moment you truly share yourself with the space and within it you find your own voice...
This was a wonderful experience, I have to say that I have never felt so affected by a space in such a strong way, when I left I felt very light, like all my air had been taken away and my sense of physicality had completely gone. Through out this process I have started to notice that a lot of the sites I have been visiting have links back to Italy. The Italian Chapel, the Mausoleum itself which looks just like the Pantheon in Rome. So in many ways the buildings that I am resonating into all, already resonate experiences from my past, like reincarnated memories....
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