Everywhere At The End of Time Captures The Horrors of Dementia Through Music

Entry: 8 July | 2112 HRS

Introduction

Dementia, a disorder of the brain, is often misunderstood. While it typically affects older adults and hence its association with aging, the disorder can affect anyone at any stage in life. Symptoms are almost unnoticed at first, before they progress into obvious, serious memory and communication difficulties.

Like other medical conditions, the lack of understanding of dementia makes the experience of those affected and their caretakers a confusing and scary one. For caretakers, the experience is also topped with great sorrow and grief as their loved ones soon fade away with their memories, leaving nothing but an empty shell.

Everywhere At The End of Time is a 6-part series produced by ambient artist James Leyland Kirby between 2016 and 2019. By splitting the series into 6 distinct stages, each with a unique artwork by his friend Ivan Seal, Kirby aimed to capture the experience of having dementia and how it progresses over time. He successfully conveyed “a sense of time passing”, during which one with dementia would identify, experience and eventually succumb to the disorder.

Stage 1

The series starts off with old 30s/40s old jazz tunes that are layered with rhythmic scratching of a record player. It is as if an old gramophone were playing in the back of the room.

The overall mood alludes to recollections of happy memories; while the overwhelming static noises makes one feel as if something is wrong – but nothing alarming just yet.

The album art seems to depict a thick roll of magazine, but there is no clarity on its contents as its pages are blank. While the object is almost identifiable from its silhouette, it lacks sufficient details to determine what it really is. The vagueness of the contents shows that something is missing from the supposedly rich magazine; likened those affected by dementia, something is missing from the once lively man. He is but an empty shell.

Stage 2: Denial

Continuing from where stage 1 left off, things are still recognisable here. But it is obviously much worse than before as there are more white noise and distortion layering over the music.

This stage portrays dementia as a degenerative disorder, through its distinct tunes from the 1930s that has progressively become faint and lost. It is almost as if the affected is hanging on to his memories, trying his best to fight against the loss of memory.

The artwork for this stage acts as a metaphor for fighting dementia. The vase is distorted and destroyed while the flowers, still vibrant and growing, push through. However, the flowers are growing in different directions from one another and can be seen as a portrayal of confusion. Plants always grow towards the location of the light source. It would mean that here, the source’s location is unknown and the plants are confused in terms of direction. Regardless, the plants are still alive and it can mean that the person fighting the disorder still has life in him, but shrouded with a dark cloud of confusion, he may be in denial of the situation.

Stage 3: Reality

The reality becomes clear at this stage as the brain disorder has almost completely taken over the poor man. Reality begins to fade as the music slowly becomes unrecognisable as the distortions become more violent throughout and instruments start to overlap and repeat excessively, as if memories are trying to fight with one another in the act of remembrance, clashing into one another such that none reaches the surface without distortion.

At some transitions, there are only static noises. It is as if the person is trying his best to remember something but nothing comes to mind or only completely distorted memories arise. At this point, reality begins to pave way for the illusion that is to come.

The artwork resembles the flowers and vase we saw previously. However, they are more distorted here. There is a lack of vibrant colours and a heavy usage of black and a grotesque yellow. The brush strokes are more violent here and the silhouette has warped into something that is almost unrecognisable.

It could be interpreted as the person, under a complete state of illusion, is trying his best to remember something as simple as a vase of flowers. But his memory has faded so much so that what surfaces instead is this grotesque, horrific looking object. At this point, things are about to completely separate themselves from reality.

Stage 4: Rupture

Everything becomes unrecognisable from this point on and there is no recovering from it. What was previously in the foreground now sits as faint background music while the noise and distortion completely takes over the front seat. The sounds are all completely spaced out and detuned, as if the person has completely succumbed to the illness, lying in a space of endless doubt with bits and pieces of corrupted memory appearing and disappearing in his mind. Only pain and confusion ensues and the songs progressively lose its sense of melody as it gets more and more distorted.

The painting portrays a dehumanised figure, disfigured and destroyed. Only the silhouette makes the figure recognisable as a person with long hair but the facial features and textures of the skin and hair have been reduced to a stone-like texture. This could imply that the person no longer has a proper recollection of what a human looks like anymore. The figure in the painting could also be seen as a lady, perhaps a wife, a mother or someone dear. This makes it even more depressing as it can be implied that the person no longer remembers even the features of the people he holds dear.

Stage 5: Horror

At this stage, there is nothing left but abrupt noise and static that cause listeners to feel lost and horrified. This is the most terrifying stage as it is the most disturbing to listen to. Amidst the chaos, there are instances where the music briefly takes shape again. But shortly after, it falls back into absolute chaos. At this stage, the person is experiencing a total memory loss but remembers only slight moments of memory which subsides after a while and the darkness resumes. The person is no longer in grips with reality as he has lost all sense of everything, including time.

This is the most abstract of the artworks. Even with the obvious silhouette, the object is completely unrecognisable. Slight hints of vibrant colour can be seen surrounded by smudges of dull colours. It is as if these vibrant colours represent the bits of memory that are recalled temporarily, while the dull colour represent the distorted memories that make up most of the person’s mind. This can be interpreted as the mind processing without any sense of recognition or familiarity.

Stage 6:

At this stage, there is nothing left. Devoid of any music, harsh noise or static, stage 6 paints the picture of a person taking his last breaths as his memory is now completely gone. There is no pain or suffering simply because there is nothing left. As it progresses, glimpses of memory from stage one seem to appear again though completely faint. It then turns to complete silence. The person has died and finally been put to rest.

The artwork depicts the back of a painting. It is the most identifiable out of the six because the person suffering from memory loss is at complete acceptance. Everything has been lost and in his last moment he recognises the beginning and the end. Death ensues and everything comes to an end.

Experience

The album has been nothing short of a phenomenal experience. Though it is one of the more terrifying experiences we’ve encountered, it is a true masterpiece that adequately and accurately captures the pain and suffering of those affected by dementia. The songs are carefully crafted and progressed elegantly to replicate the degradation of memories experienced by those with the brain disorder.

As an individual who has encountered dementia patients, this album truly is an eye opening experience that changes your perspective towards these individuals. It too makes one question the fragility of life and that every moment and memory of your family and friends can simply fade away with time. Nothing is built to last, not even memories.

For those who are brave, we highly recommend listening to the full 6 and a half hour experience non-stop. But take breaks when needed.

WARNING

This album may cause anxiety and depression while listening to it. Many listeners have reported mental breakdowns while listening to this composition. If you suffer from anxiety or are prone to developing episodes, we strongly advise against listening to the composition.

Artworks Credit: Ivan Seal

Music Credit: The Caretaker

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