Presentation
2011, Mois Multi 12, Quebec City
Curators: Émile Morin and Avatar
2012, Festival Temps d’images, Usine C, Montreal
Curator: Sylvie Teste
Summary
In carrying out this project, I first experimented aboard a 300-meter-long container-carrier ship, the MSC Ilona, during a voyage from Charleston (United States) to Antwerp (Belgium). During this crossing, miniscule vibrations marked time with the engines. Following the undulations of the sea, the rolling of the ship caused the containers to creak. The audio-visual installation, which is based on this period of data collection, was created from recordings made directly from the boat. In other words, the work is composed of sound textures, filmed images ─ reflecting variations in the horizon ─ and physically perceptible vibrations, all producing the same experience: that of movement. Evoking an immense and sublime environment, CARGO attempts to give substance to the intangible.
The work in the venue
Presented in semi-darkness, this installation comprises a rear-screen video projection of the sea on a suspended 3 x 1.5 metre screen. Although it can be viewed from all points of the presentation space, the best vantage point is from a platform assembled on site. Like the wall that borders it, this platform includes a device that transmits the vibrations and low frequencies. They can thus be physically experienced. They can also be perceived when a mirror reflecting a fragment of the sea begins to tremble on the wall on which it is hung. The audio dimension of the installation involves an eight-channel loop of 25 minutes, emanating from eight speakers. Together, the video and the sound spatialization give an impression of the real space of a boat, without explicitly showing it. Visitors thus enter a multi-dimensional world.
Acknowledgments
Canada Council for the Arts, Avatar, La Bande Vidéo, Productions Recto-Verso and l’Œil de Poisson.
The artist would like to thank the artistic director of Avatar Lorella Abenavoli, as well as Mériol Lehmann, for their collaboration and expertise throughout the project.
