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This is the full release of The Caretaker’s album “Everywhere at the End of an Empty Bliss,” commissioned by the PODO Museum for its group exhibition “Perhaps Sunny Days.” This edition was used from March 20, 2024, until approximately April 2024, at which time it was replaced by an abridged and revised version. James Leyland Kirby, also known as The Caretaker in the ambient music scene, and painter Ivan Seal have produced poignant works addressing sensitive themes such as memory loss and cognitive decline since their initial encounter in the early 1990s. Presented here for the first time is “Everywhere at the End of an Empty Bliss,” one album from The Caretaker and Seal’s eleven-piece series, which includes “A.ZCHRL:ONE,” specially commissioned for this exhibition at the PODO Museum. These works illuminated the gradual decline of memory and cognitive abilities in relation to objects and the external world. "Everywhere at the End of an Empty Bliss," The Caretaker's album, comprises eleven tracks with a total running time of 43 minutes. From Track 1 to Track 8, the first 22 minutes sound like an old vinyl record with somewhat raw yet warm melodies. As the album progresses, intense sonic distortions and noises are interspersed, producing an indescribable reverberation that permeates the entire gallery space. This deliberate manipulation of familiar, soothing music into an experimental composition reflects the artist's effort to depict the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. The Caretaker was inspired by research on Alzheimer's patients who recover memories by listening to music from their past. Seal's Painting Series visually articulates the gradual loss of perception of the outside world and the emergence of a new reality through this transformative process. Each painting in the series portrays a distinct theme; however, a form resembling a human head and an object resembling an architectural space persist throughout the entire set. These recurring motifs symbolize an effort to recover the original self that only leads to greater abstraction and ambivalence; someone who struggles to remember but the memories remain fragmented and suffers cognitive loss. - 01 - Track 1 - 02 - Track 2 - 03 - Track 3 - 04 - Track 4 - 05 - Track 5 - 06 - Track 6 - 07 - Track 7 - 08 - Track 8 - 09 - Track 9 - 10 - Track 10 - 11 - Track 11
