In Sound-Seed 1, Bharatrihari and Abhnavgupta’s definitions of speech are combined to create a playful encounter between articulated speech and its concept-forming self, while reflecting on the power of speech to inflict violence, as well to express love, induce dialogue or to suggest the sublime.

According to the Vedas, the universe is generated in cycles lasting millennia. As each cycle ends, only one sound seed remains: daivi vak or divine word. From this vibrating source a new cycle begins.

Personified in mythology, the concept of sound seed, becomes Vak, a formless goddess revealed through language. This in turn gives rise to Indian philosophical theories of language.

Theorist and grammarian Bharatrihari (c. 450—510 C.E.) defines three levels at which speech operates, Pashyanti (the conceptual level), Madhyamā (conceptual grasp), and Vaikhari (articulated speech). To this Abhnavgupta (c. 975–1025 CE) adds Para (pure Consciousness), naming the vibrationary source of the universe and its cycles.

Movement and Dance - Hamshya Rajkumar Text/ Costume/ Ceramics – R. Thapalyal First performed at Dundee Botanical Gardens, TIAS 12-Hour Revel, June 2022

Sound Seed was first commissioned by Cooper Gallery, Dundee for The Ignorant Art School: Five Sit-ins towards Creative Emancipation, curated by Sophia Yadong Hao