GLACIER XVIII
TYPE : immersive multi-sensorial work, in a physical and an augmented reality space
MEDIUMS : installation, digital art, augmented reality, text, soundDATE : 2021
PLACE : London & Paris
COMPLEMENTARY INFORMATION : piece created for the application of the festival LES AILLEURS {the festival that explores immersion}, Gaïté Lyrique, Paris
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CONTEXTUALISATION :
The climate crisis we are experiencing reveals an unprecedented ecological urgency. The planet warms up, burns, ice melt everywhere on earth, contributing to the rise of sea levels, many animal species migrate, many other decline and disappear. Unquestionably, earth itself, environments, all forms of life are in danger. This catastrophe is the result of human actions.
Today we can count on earth less than 30 glaciers, as opposed to more than 150 in 1910. The glaciers in the Alps are likely to melt at 90% between now and 2100. Ice in Antartica are melting six times faster than 40 years ago. In Greenland temperatures have increased from approximately tree degrees since 1980.
The project GLACIER XVIII is born from this context. This piece exposes and denounces with poetry and contemplation the melting of ices, and the ecological crisis.
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SYNOPSIS :
GLACIER XVIII is a multi-sensorial and immersive piece, in a physical and in an augmented reality space. GLACIER XVIII is a multidimensional circular night space that invites the spectator in the ritual space of the witch. Through this space the spectator is invited to visualise and hear the spirit of the glacier/s, to listen to its suffering from being put to death. Traditionally the witch creates a circle to establish connexions with immaterial and invisible words, during rituals and practices of witchcraft. In this project the archetype of the witch is central : the witch represents a strong invisible entity, rebellious, protective of natural entities, visible or not. She -the witch- carries earth in herself. The experience of GLACIER XVIII is the space of the witch, and the contact she establishes with immaterial and invisible existences. GLACIER XVIII is the space at the edge of reality, interrogating what reality is, facing the real and tangible problematic of the ice melting everywhere on earth. GLACIER XVIII is a multi-sensorial narrative experience from the visualisation of the spirit of the glacier, a narrative meditation, perhaps the representation of a journey into subconscious territories.
The piece is made from two co-produced realities : a physical reality and an augmented reality. The physical reality is the space of the witch : a big circle made from volumes of rocks, that creates and represents a landscape of hills and mountains, through which the spectator can walk. Red neons are standing in this landscape, designating burning trees, without their leaves, representing a real urgency : it is why the neons are real in the space, tangible, being an alarm that can’t be turned off.
The augmented reality space represents the spirit of the glacier through symbolical and visual representations and a sound narration. Above the circle, the spectator observes a big block of ice pivoting. The spirit of the ice also exists through the strong and enigmatic presence of a big wolf (she), made from white ice, with piercing bright red eyes. The wolf is howling, from life and pain, towards the ice block, another part of herself, like towards a full moon. A call to transform knowledge into wisdom. During the experience of augmented reality, other elements appear, as a stag walking through the landscape, fragile and strong, as a call for compassion. Red trees appear and disappear.
GLACIER XVIII is an immersive piece inviting the spectator into a nebulous and atmospherical narrative. The contemplation is the central action of this multi-sensorial piece, without heroisation of the spectator (the spectator do not have to achieve something specific, the spectator is simply there). This piece open doors of an invited world, immaterial, in direct relationship with a tangible reality, from the actual environmental context. This journey is an invitation to a state of awareness, and then to action, through contemplation and the relationship between the symbolical representation of the beauty of existences and the consciousness of the suffering.
GLACIER XVIII is an intimate and individual experiences, linked to a collective -and profoundly politic- experience (the climate crisis). This co-relation between individual and collective experiences is central in the creation of other imagination, et thus new forms of narrations, that allows to put into perspective our human experience and also to question and deconstruct our relationship to reality. Through this piece, the borders of reality are foggy, vaporous, in motion, dynamic, questioning our perceptions, and thus allow the possibility of another reality -perhaps more than one.
MEDIUMS : installation, digital art, augmented reality, text, soundDATE : 2021
PLACE : London & Paris
COMPLEMENTARY INFORMATION : piece created for the application of the festival LES AILLEURS {the festival that explores immersion}, Gaïté Lyrique, Paris
«GLACIER XVIII is a multi-sensorial art piece, as a narrated meditation, that invites the spectator in a ritual circle where they can hear and visualise the spirit of ices, and listen to its agony»
CONTEXTUALISATION :
The climate crisis we are experiencing reveals an unprecedented ecological urgency. The planet warms up, burns, ice melt everywhere on earth, contributing to the rise of sea levels, many animal species migrate, many other decline and disappear. Unquestionably, earth itself, environments, all forms of life are in danger. This catastrophe is the result of human actions.
Today we can count on earth less than 30 glaciers, as opposed to more than 150 in 1910. The glaciers in the Alps are likely to melt at 90% between now and 2100. Ice in Antartica are melting six times faster than 40 years ago. In Greenland temperatures have increased from approximately tree degrees since 1980.
The project GLACIER XVIII is born from this context. This piece exposes and denounces with poetry and contemplation the melting of ices, and the ecological crisis.
SYNOPSIS :
GLACIER XVIII is a multi-sensorial and immersive piece, in a physical and in an augmented reality space. GLACIER XVIII is a multidimensional circular night space that invites the spectator in the ritual space of the witch. Through this space the spectator is invited to visualise and hear the spirit of the glacier/s, to listen to its suffering from being put to death. Traditionally the witch creates a circle to establish connexions with immaterial and invisible words, during rituals and practices of witchcraft. In this project the archetype of the witch is central : the witch represents a strong invisible entity, rebellious, protective of natural entities, visible or not. She -the witch- carries earth in herself. The experience of GLACIER XVIII is the space of the witch, and the contact she establishes with immaterial and invisible existences. GLACIER XVIII is the space at the edge of reality, interrogating what reality is, facing the real and tangible problematic of the ice melting everywhere on earth. GLACIER XVIII is a multi-sensorial narrative experience from the visualisation of the spirit of the glacier, a narrative meditation, perhaps the representation of a journey into subconscious territories.
The piece is made from two co-produced realities : a physical reality and an augmented reality. The physical reality is the space of the witch : a big circle made from volumes of rocks, that creates and represents a landscape of hills and mountains, through which the spectator can walk. Red neons are standing in this landscape, designating burning trees, without their leaves, representing a real urgency : it is why the neons are real in the space, tangible, being an alarm that can’t be turned off.
The augmented reality space represents the spirit of the glacier through symbolical and visual representations and a sound narration. Above the circle, the spectator observes a big block of ice pivoting. The spirit of the ice also exists through the strong and enigmatic presence of a big wolf (she), made from white ice, with piercing bright red eyes. The wolf is howling, from life and pain, towards the ice block, another part of herself, like towards a full moon. A call to transform knowledge into wisdom. During the experience of augmented reality, other elements appear, as a stag walking through the landscape, fragile and strong, as a call for compassion. Red trees appear and disappear.
GLACIER XVIII is an immersive piece inviting the spectator into a nebulous and atmospherical narrative. The contemplation is the central action of this multi-sensorial piece, without heroisation of the spectator (the spectator do not have to achieve something specific, the spectator is simply there). This piece open doors of an invited world, immaterial, in direct relationship with a tangible reality, from the actual environmental context. This journey is an invitation to a state of awareness, and then to action, through contemplation and the relationship between the symbolical representation of the beauty of existences and the consciousness of the suffering.
GLACIER XVIII is an intimate and individual experiences, linked to a collective -and profoundly politic- experience (the climate crisis). This co-relation between individual and collective experiences is central in the creation of other imagination, et thus new forms of narrations, that allows to put into perspective our human experience and also to question and deconstruct our relationship to reality. Through this piece, the borders of reality are foggy, vaporous, in motion, dynamic, questioning our perceptions, and thus allow the possibility of another reality -perhaps more than one.
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THE PIECE :
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THE PIECE :
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THE SOUND - COMPLEMENTARY NOTES :
The audio space, 10:40min, is a meditative and contemplative space. We can hear the voices of the spirits of ice express themselves, and the howling of the wolf (she). In this space, voices of women whisper and speak an unknown language. The spectator, in a meditation, a journey through consciousness, can’t control everything : they hear this language they cannot understand. These voices represent a incomprehensible reality : through the unknown of the language potentials flourish and allow imaginary words to rise, within the mystical enigma of the piece GLACIER XVIII.
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PHYSICAL REALITY SPACE :
This space is the physical space constructed for the exhibition. It is the space of the witch, the circle in which the spectator walks through. The landscape is made of rocks, and the red lines are red neons standing, symbolically representing burning trees, as an alarm in the night that can’t go off.
THE SOUND - COMPLEMENTARY NOTES :
The audio space, 10:40min, is a meditative and contemplative space. We can hear the voices of the spirits of ice express themselves, and the howling of the wolf (she). In this space, voices of women whisper and speak an unknown language. The spectator, in a meditation, a journey through consciousness, can’t control everything : they hear this language they cannot understand. These voices represent a incomprehensible reality : through the unknown of the language potentials flourish and allow imaginary words to rise, within the mystical enigma of the piece GLACIER XVIII.
__________
PHYSICAL REALITY SPACE :
This space is the physical space constructed for the exhibition. It is the space of the witch, the circle in which the spectator walks through. The landscape is made of rocks, and the red lines are red neons standing, symbolically representing burning trees, as an alarm in the night that can’t go off.
AUGMENTED REALITY SPACE - SEQUENCE :
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GLACIER XVIII, ABOUT THE TITLE :
The number XVIII is a reference to the number XVIII of the Tarot card “THE MOON”. Tarot cards are divinatory tool used in the practice of witchcraft. The card XVIII, the Moon, of the major arcana, represents a night scene, calling intuition. The light of the moon provides a new light on the essence of a real and tangible problem, a situation that needs attention. A decision must be taken. This method of divination is often used with intimate moments. Here, I put the card in relation with the climate crises. This piece brings a new light on a tangible reality that needs attention, urgently.
![^ Digital interpretation of the card XVIII of the tarot]()
GLACIER XVIII, ABOUT THE TITLE :
The number XVIII is a reference to the number XVIII of the Tarot card “THE MOON”. Tarot cards are divinatory tool used in the practice of witchcraft. The card XVIII, the Moon, of the major arcana, represents a night scene, calling intuition. The light of the moon provides a new light on the essence of a real and tangible problem, a situation that needs attention. A decision must be taken. This method of divination is often used with intimate moments. Here, I put the card in relation with the climate crises. This piece brings a new light on a tangible reality that needs attention, urgently.
