528
Creative Mile, Brentford Art Trail. September 2023
Inspired by the meaning behind various frequencies, Jam Patel explores the significance of 528Hz in her latest film. Often regarded as the ‘love frequency,’ this sound is associated with compassion, connection, and harmony. The film ‘528’ (2023) follows on from ‘111’ (2022), which takes its name from the ‘divine’ or ‘holy’ frequency linked to healing, 111Hz.
The ‘love frequency’ is layered with conversations that took place as Patel watched the sunset with her friends and loved ones. The interactions include questions, answers, whispers, shouts, thoughts, and feelings, and at times her child is the topic of conversation. Ending with a squeal from her daughter, the sounds of the film underscore the theme of pure love.
With a duration of 5 minutes and 28 seconds, the film depicts the rock Es Vedrà, on the south-west coast of Ibiza. The island is notable for being associated with many myths and legends, one of which states that it is the third most magnetic point on the planet. Beginning with footage of a boat sailing at sunset in front of the alluring rock, Patel presents a metaphor for the journey of life; though the currents may take us somewhere unexpected, we are presented with the opportunity to absorb the wisdom of the waters so we can be carried to where we need to be. Highlighting the natural elements of earth, water and air, the footage refers to the idea that nature in balance vibrates at 528Hz.
Echoing the transformative power of the frequency, the film also alludes to Ibiza’s characteristic as a place to re-energise and rejuvenate, as well as the belief that the rock of Es Vedrà has a healing energy. As with the setting sun, the frequency gives us the comfort of knowing that we are ready for another day tomorrow.
111
Listen, Gunnersbury Park Museum. June 2022
A summer exhibition in support of The Listening Place
We live in a world of ambient noise, from household grumbles to tweeting birds - each sound with its own frequency. Taking the sound frequency of 111Hz as her inspiration, Jam Patel invites viewers to focus on their inner silence with her new short film ‘111’ (2022). Often referred to as the healing sound, 111Hz is said to improve focus and transport us to a higher state of consciousness.
Besides the sound of a tuning fork at 111Hz, noises heard in Patel’s short film range from the mundane every day, such as people talking and having breakfast, a boiler humming, and car engines whirring, to the extraordinary sound of a fetal heartbeat. These different sounds are not there to distract us but to encourage us to shift our hearing from outside sounds to the inner plane, where there is silence and contemplation.
Lasting 11 minutes and 1 second, this film depicts clouds passing gently in the sky, highlighting how nature moves in silence even when there is noise all around us. Patel draws on the sky as a metaphor for inner silence - a peaceful state where internal noise, or thoughts, and external noise cease to claim your attention. Inspiring a stillness so quiet, ‘111’ is a film that underlines the significance of not only sight but sound.
Watching Me, Watching You
Creative Mile. Brentford Art Trail. September 2021
Artist Jam Patel presents, ‘Watching Me, Watching You’, a series of eight images that explore the concept of ‘awakening from the illusion of our separateness’ through a symbiotic process of watching and being watched. For Jam, the response to, and interaction with the images continues the circle, and so, the viewer becomes part of the gaze, as they are filmed whilst they are watching.
The artist seeks to shift our judgement from our gaze and any preconceived ideas of ‘beauty’ associated with the female form as represented throughout European art history. Through Patel’s lens, the figures are both empowered and liberated.
With a play on concealing and revealing, Patel comments on ideas surrounding voyeurism, maintaining both the subject’s personality whilst obscuring and protecting their identity. For Patel, this ‘hidden’ element emphasizes the form and shapes of the figures themselves, articulating themes of freedom and agency of one’s body.
The setting of these bold images in a vintage car showroom is also relevant to the ideas of consumerism of the female form within the male-dominated world of cars. But the narrative shifts at the hand of a female artist.
The Space In Between
MK Gallery. July 2020
A video installation Directed by Jam Patel. The women in the video were given something to eat in a performance context in the hope to capture an authentic moment. The video expands the conversation to what isn’t said. The space between the subject and artist, and then the artist with the viewer. This, in turn, becomes its own moment.