One Way Chorus is a series on 103 aphoristic statements derived from interviews with couples about the possibility of going on an extended space mission together, produced with poet Lucy Sheerman. One Way Chorus exists as an online text piece, with maxims appearing at short intervals in random Hubble telescope colours, and as a sound-piece on a digital radio, with the texts sung in plainchant.

One Way Chorus was first performed live by Ellie Holroyd and Melissa Guilliano at the Ruskin Gallery, ARU, as part of solo show Counting In A Different Language. It has since been performed in different places around the city of Peterborough (2017) and as part of Hotbed Festival at The Junction, Cambridge (2019).

ONE WAY CHORUS

Subliminally it sounds like you want me to take the risk

You have a one way ticket

It would be nice to be somewhere with no distractions

You have a very curious nature

This could be joyous and amazing

This is a different scenario

Don’t grow accustomed to it

You won’t have to accept it

Don’t take the risk without knowing

You are able to start life afresh

There is something soothing about this

The scary bit only lasts three minutes

Become a much more global person

Would it make you stronger?

Do you agree on anything?

Could you do without books?

Could you make a decision like that?

Think about things in more holistic ways

This is fascination and a unique experience

Talk more about bigger issues

Shared experience brings you closer

You need solid ground definitely

You can’t be what you don’t know

You can’t ignore the clutter

Perhaps we feel we ought to want to go

We are in a long distance relationship

You don’t have to think

Who wouldn’t want to go?

We are sharing time together

We’re doing something although it might not feel like it

We could disagree in order to arrive at an ok outcome

We might both arrive at the same ending

You can’t always have your own way can you

We can work together

You have a sense of complete and utter peace

All sorts of things could go wrong

I don’t think we have to say yes

You can’t escape

What are the bits that grind you up and get annoying?

You can’t escape

If I had to go with someone I’d prefer to go with you

I wouldn’t go to live on a desert with just you

I’d like to continue my life with you

You think you’d grow apart

This is a different scenario

We might end up counting the days

You don’t grow accustomed to it

In the end you won’t have to accept it

Our views are very different

You spend a lot of your life in a relationship

It would be a shock to be talking to each other

The thought that you can’t go out must be quite hard

You are listening to all the crackle of life

It is just the two of you forever and ever

You hope it will make you stronger

You can’t escape

You can’t afford to make any mistakes

Why on earth did we get together?

We don’t actually agree on anything

You don’t know do you?

We live separate but linked existences

You will get more set in your ways

Talk about your experiences

Find your own interest

You just have to adapt to a different lifestyle

The arrival has got to be the high point

Space makes you feel so insignificant

You’re obsessed by astronomy

In any environment there’s a battle

Who’s going to be the leader?

What do you do with all that time?

You really want to know the person you are travelling with

The journey’s part of the experience

Become much more aware of other people’s rituals

Actually there’s nothing else to be said

You hope it will make you stronger

The need for other people is there

To have just the one other makes it a challenge

You know who’s in charge

Is there a very concrete path of action to be taken?

The compromises have already been made

The arrival is something we can’t depend on

We have to invest in the journey

I don’t find the unknown particularly romantic or interesting

This is something really interesting you can write about

A lot of what binds people together is shared experiences and feelings

You have to work out a new way of sleeping

You have to negotiate the weightlessness

What would you take?

This is time well spent

You discovered early on that it was absolutely impossible

You know they know no one will know

No one will be able to understand your experience

That is a very lonely place

You have a black out if the blood goes from your head to your lower torso

You have a red out if the blood is forced from your lower torso to your head

You can lie in certain positions

You’re thinking about physical stress to your body

I’m thinking about emotional stress

Once you’re there you’re there aren’t you?

You just have to get on with it

Every now and then you do fight back

We could procreate. Create people around us.