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Concept
In Volcano we want to explore and bring forth uprootedness. Firstly, uprootedness and migration. Secondly uprootedness and the geological.
The volcano in the work is Stromboli, a mythic site of uprootedness. It is also the place where Giuseppe Russo (Maria's grandfather) grew up and the place that he returned to in his dreams as he slowly went blind. Migration from Stromboli to Australia (two opposing places) is an important thread in the texture of the work. There is a strong link between Stromboli and Australia, which is referred to by Strombolians as the eighth Aeolian island. And, just as migrants have been actually uprooted from Stromboli to Australia, Stromboli was mythically uprooted from Thira.
We want to fill the container with as many older model monitors (some working and some not) and speakers as possible, while leaving people room to walk around. The monitors are strewn around like the debris from a volcanic eruption. The monitor, usually the vehicle for the software programs becomes the focus. The animations become the vehicle for engaging the viewer with the monitors. To look at a monitor one is normally forced to focus on a singular rectangle with its ideal viewing position, usually directly in front of the screen. This is also true for speakers especially stereo speakers, where the ideal position is usually centered between the speakers. One of our concerns is to uproot and disturb this positioning of the viewer/listener.
The monitors like the sound, are designed as pairs. When they are placed in the container/gallery the pairs will be separated and the animations will jump across the gap between. The blindspot. This will have the effect of unexpected eruptions and surprises. The sound pulls the audience in the direction of the constantly shifting sound- disrupting them from a stable viewing/listening position - revealing the impossibility of being comfortable in either a modernist or a digital subjectivity at this particular moment. This movement echoes the image's play across the gap between the monitors.
Project Outline:
The room will be dimly lit, almost dark.
16 working monitors (svga) several broken, not functional.
4 x 4 way splitters boxes, 2 CPUs, 4 x pairs of speakers, stones reminiscent of the beach on Stromboli.
The monitor screens will be set up as pairs. The animations are designed to work with the gap. Pairs of monitors won't necessarily sit next to each other, for example the gap may extend across the room. There will be a significant amount of randomness in the animations. This will create an artists version of a generative process of unexpectedness.
The content of the animations and the sound is material collected on the island of Stromboli. The images are scanned photos taken of Stromboli, both old photos and recent photos digitised and manipulated. As well as animations with type.
The sound mix is designed for fragments to jump randomly across 4 sets of small speakers, this will make the sound local, rather than immersive-- inviting a constant shift by the listener. The speakers will be of different sizes and models, as well as using the speakers in some of the monitors.
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