Installation/ Intervention, made in Djerba, site-specific @ the media art festival SEE DJERBA 2019 - Houmt Souk 29.8.-1.9.2019 Tunisia
AFTERGLOW
Installation/ Intervention, Made in Djerba, Site-specific
by mutual loop / Holger Lang / Martina Tritthart
by mutual loop / Holger Lang / Martina Tritthart
@ the media art festival SEE DJERBA 2019
Houmt Souk 29.08.-01.09.2019 Tunisia
Houmt Souk 29.08.-01.09.2019 Tunisia
Material of the art work:
2 channel video projections (animation film, projection mapping)
4 channel audio system (duration 18 minutes, all sounds recorded at Houmt Souk)
sculpture (desert-straw, nylon thread)
2 channel video projections (animation film, projection mapping)
4 channel audio system (duration 18 minutes, all sounds recorded at Houmt Souk)
sculpture (desert-straw, nylon thread)
The project Afterglow was based on the exploration of the relationship between concepts of culture and nature. The desire of mankind to bring nature under control and make it structurally and mathematically calculable, enables cultural categorization and the development of signs and symbols from abstraction. The unpredictability of wind influences the audio-visual appearance and the spatial perception of the installation.
We also planned to investigate the effects of an inversion of the perceivable reality. What would be inside, would turn outside, the outside would be converted to the interior, what would be light, would turn into darkness, darkness into light, what you hear outside, could get heard inside, what you would usually hear during the day, would get heard at night. While the artistic space would be a focal point for this exploration it would thus also create an area for an altered audiences experience. The intervention also utilised the overlapping transition-zone between the actual objects and their image, and between the physical world and the imaginary, mediated, and projected realm.
We collected shades and textures which can be found as projections of sunbeams through roof structures, window grids, straw mats and palm leaves on walls and floor surfaces in Houmt Souk. These images were modified, multiplied in video sequences, and the results were two 14 minute long animated films, then projected on two walls, opposite each other in the courtyard of the Fondouk Ben Ghorbel. The installation was accompanied by a four-channel audio-installation, created from sounds collected in and around the site.
Above the heads of the visitors a lightweight three-dimensional kinetic construction, made out of straw and strings, was mounted. Moved by the wind, the projection light was either reflected onto this structure, or it would cast shadows through it, which thereby expanded the visuals into a three-dimensional space. While light was coming from the sky during the day, the light coming from inside the building, projecting a negative image of shadows from below on the object and walls, reversed the experience in our piece at night.
Our goal was an artistic interaction with the local environment that would allow us to present the outcome of our activities back to the resident people. We had worked on site for almost a week and were able to experience elements of the life and circumstances of the community in and around the Fondouk Ben Ghorbel. This had a strong impact on the direction and content of the piece "Afterglow" and in addition, it will have a continuing effect also in future projects.
Accomplices: Meriem Mihoub, Aziz Cheour, Khaoula Ben Tamarzizet
Technical Support: Polyplexity Team, Syrine Siala
Technical Support: Polyplexity Team, Syrine Siala
Funding:
Austrian Embassy in Tunis
Holger Lang, Martina Tritthart
See Djerba Festival
Curatorial Team
Austrian Embassy in Tunis
Holger Lang, Martina Tritthart
See Djerba Festival
Curatorial Team
