As a classically trained composer she fuses traditional instruments and orchestration with applications of digital technology. The work is an ongoing exploration of human identity, particularly our hidden lives and emotional landscapes and is often melancholic and epic in scale.
She completed her training at the National Film and Television School where she developed a passion for the merging of image, movement and music. She uses film and video in her work, often digitally manipulated and re-coloured, to inject a sense of hyper-realism, nostalgia, loss and hope into the pieces.
She has collaborated on a variety of projects with games developer and researcher Dan Pinchbeck since 2003, including a series of experimental game mods. The latest of these, Dear Esther, was selected for Prix Ars Electronica 2008 and has already been downloaded over 10,000 times. They have recently been commissioned to create a new experimental game mod: Korsakovia, designed to investigate how players cope when normal anthropomorphic cues attached to agents are removed.
She has exhibited internationally and has received commissions, residencies, grants and awards from organisations such as the The Wellcome Trust, The Royal Society of Arts, PVA, Werkleitz Gesellschaft, Labculture, Arts Council England, Hull Time Based Arts, Exeter Phoenix, CIBAS and Arts and Technology Partnerships. She was the first ever Artist in Residence at the New Media Centre at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London and was also selected for the European Media Artist Residency Exchange programme in Germany.
Her latest film, i carry your heart, was shown around the world in 2008, including the prestigious Kassel Documentary Film and Video Festival; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Venezuela; several festivals in Germany; Poland; India and in the UK. She has recently been selected for the Berlinale Talent Campus 2009, a six day international creative summit in conjunction with the Berlinale Film Festival. She also sits on the Board of Directors for PVA Media Lab, Dorset.
The New Century Dawns
Jessica Curry Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
At the end when we were cold as the stone we had hewn his body from.
When the lights were nearly all extinguished, we heard in the silent distance, the Manpigs singing to one another.
Then, as the last lights were gone, and we lay together in the deep, they drifted away, and all was silent. Such a silence, I have never known.
A church bell ringing out.
And in that moment, the new century was born.
The lyrics to Jessica Curry's song The New Century Dawns describe a scene of both death and rebirth. The first line, "I lay there and watched the god I had created die," sets the tone for the rest of the song. It's a metaphorical line, suggesting that the singer had created something they idolized only to watch it crumble before their eyes. This idea of death continues throughout the song as they mention being cold and hearing the Manpigs singing to each other in the distance. But it isn't until the end of the song that the focus shifts to rebirth. The silence that follows the Manpigs' song is deafening, but then the singer hears a church bell ringing and realizes that a new century has begun.
The theme of death and rebirth is something that's been explored in countless pieces of literature, art, and music, and for good reason. It's a universal idea that's easy to relate to. Whether it's the end of a relationship, the loss of a loved one, or the death of an idea or dream, we all experience different kinds of death in our lives. But it's important to remember that death isn't the end. There's always the possibility of something new being born out of the rubble of what came before it. And that's what makes the final lines of the song so powerful. In the midst of all this death and sadness, there's a glimmer of hope for the future. "And in that moment, the new century was born."
Line by Line Meaning
I lay there and watched the god I had created die.
I witnessed the end of a powerful force that I myself had brought to existence.
At the end when we were cold as the stone we had hewn his body from.
We were left with nothing but a lifeless body made from the very materials we used to build our homes.
When the lights were nearly all extinguished, we heard in the silent distance, the Manpigs singing to one another.
In the midst of darkness, we could hear the faint and eerie sounds of creatures communicating with each other.
Then, as the last lights were gone, and we lay together in the deep, they drifted away, and all was silent. Such a silence, I have never known.
In the complete absence of light, and amongst the embrace of others, we experienced a level of silence that left a lasting impression upon us.
And as the dust settled on my open eyes and we lay together embraced forever, I heard miles above us, the sounds of the city turning over in its sleep.
Amidst the calm aftermath of destruction, with a sense of finality and closeness, I could hear the distant hum of a city that continues on.
A church bell ringing out.
The nostalgic chime of a church bell signalling the passing of time.
And in that moment, the new century was born.
The passing of a powerful being and the hearing of time passing marked the birth of a new era.
Contributed by Aiden V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.