THE SPACE BETWEEN US
The Space Between Us // 3 channel HD projection // Installation
Audio // KILN Sunsculptures // Ghostly International
Video design and composition // Radiance
VJ Performance Reel // Three channel edit
Designed for display // 3 projectors + thriple head Matrox
Artist Statement
“The space between us” is the general title of this body of work which is based on a unique theme: the sense of place. The site for investigation is the geography and landscape of Tallinn, Estonia where I undertook a residency in 2012 and returned for the summer in 2013
The project consists of a video installation, a series of photographs and a performance piece.
Through the juxtaposition of multiple landscapes I wish to challenge the audience to question their own relationships with the physical environment which surrounds us and to examine the existence of landscape as a mental and emotional entity.
In this project I have filming all the locations visited with a macro lens and also with an aerial camera to create panorama 360 footage which I will composit together in after effects. I have also taken a photograph every day at a set time – 4pm and also created a series of illustrations to depict my emotional and psychological experiences of the place.
The landscape became quite interesting to me as I was traveling alot at the time. The geography was also very different to that of my home country in Australia.
The space between us
– between you and me, between one destination and the next
– the distance between lovers, the distances of geography and places I have traveled
– digital media such as skype, email, facebook makes us feel like we are closer together and provides many outlets for increased communication. It creates the illusion of closeness despite physical distance. However it doesn’t replace human interaction and intimacy.
– how we understand space though time, place, journey and narrative
– fragments of the many experiences of the natural environment brought together in the art object.
Choosing specific locations to walk to as destinations has been a deliberate way to get my bearings in a new landscape.
Site specific location for walking performance in Tallinn, Estonia
18 part performance, 4 hours duration each day
Maps and triangles as symbols of a journey through a landscape
– The triangle presents three points on a landscape, where we have been, where we are now, and where we will go in the future. It exposes the concept of real and imagined distance between locations.
– Maps are a powerful tools of communication which show a point of view or inspire a journey on a particular environment
– As universal instruments the can guide us not only from A to B but provide a unique perspective on the world
– map makers select information and ‘frame’ the space presenting it in scale
– maps display an intricate structure of connections; rivers, roads, boarders and boundaries, features and patterns of the natural built landscape through which we filter our perception and understanding of a place
– There is a long tradition of mapping and the landscape with early historical maps were individual works of art before printing allowed them to be mass produced by mechanical means. In recent times the invention of google maps has made the use of printed maps diminish and has become replaced by screen based maps. In this project I am aiming to use new media to explore extended ways to use screen based maps to depict the landscape.
– the triangle becomes a motif in this piece to depict the link between one destination and the next
Single channel edit
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Interview on SBS radio
www.sbs.com.au/yourlanguage/estonian/highlight/page/id/343268/t/Australian-Estonian-exhibition-in-Melbourne
When I arrived in Estonia in 2012 I met several performance artists such as Sandra Jogeva, Tannel Sarr, Ernest Truly, Mai Soote who were working out of the Polymer where I was undertaking a residency. Towards the end of my stay in Estonia I went on tour with these artists across the Baltics performing in several similar culture factories. We started at Polymer in Tallinn, then going on to Riga in Latvia and continuing on the journey to the Creature Live Art festival held in Kaunus and then finally doing a performance at The Contemporary Art Centre in Villuns, the capital of Lithuania. Whilst on tour with these artists I was able to observe their practice and learn new techniques of production.
When I returned to Estonia for the summer of 2013 I was inspired to create a physical performance piece that reflected the art and culture of the place. I wanted to engage the location in the work and also make a work that looked at using the body as the art object. So I decided to undertake a walking project between locations around Tallinn and translate the documentations of the process into digital media.
These video sequences are the generation of such a process as each location and destination that I walked I also filmed. The triangle became a way to signify the link between one destination and the next.
The whole project is site specific and based on a concept of place. It brought up the concept of how far away or close something is in our mind. As Estonia is on the other side of the world to Australia this issue of proximity seemed relevant to me as a foreigner in a distant land.
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Solo Exhibition at D11 gallery in Docklands, Melbourne
On return to Australia after my travels in Europe I held an exhibition of the work at the D11 Gallery in Melbourne. The Estonian Embassy was very supportive of my show and posted details of the project on their official website and let the Estonian – Australian community know about the opening night.
Launching the exhibition was the Estonian Consulate General Mr Katrin Kanarik who flew down from Sydney and spoke in parts about cultural diplomacy. She mentioned an interesting point in her talk which is that Skype was actually invented in Estonia, a program which is used extensively across the world for people to communicate with virtually by distance.
The embassy also kindly donated money towards my show which I used to get some catalogues printed. In the catalogue are articles written by the residency co-ordinator from Polymer Ernest Truly, and also from an Estonian Art Critic and former host of the Tallinn TV arts show Sandra Jogeva.
Estonian Embassy website listing here
Exhibition Catalogue
Estonian Consulate for Australia Opening Speech at the D11 Gallery
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Photograph taken every day at 4pm over a durational time frame while I was staying in Tallinn Estonia
By shooting at a set time I took an image of what was directly in front of me rather then from aesthetic point of view. It helped to make me feel more present in my surroundings, to absorb and process the new environment I was in. It was a way for me to move past taking more typical tourist photographs of what is deemed to be a nice location or ‘pretty view.’
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Physical acts of ritual or endurance using the body.
Walking as physical performance
It implies the idea of journey from one destination to the next – A to B to C
18 part performance, 4 hours duration each day
Walking Documentation from performance piece in specific locations around Tallinn
Screened as apart of the Don Kino experimental film project held at Cabaret Rhizome, Tallinn Estonia
Spaces / places / locations walked between in Tallinn Estonia. One variation exhibited in a video mapping installation
One variation of The Space between Us exhibited at Polymer Culture Factory. In this installation I used natural grasses found on one of the walks around tallinn
The project was made with the help of the Finnish Helicam services
http://helicam.aero
https://www.facebook.com/HelicamServices
Special thanks to the following artists:
Ernest Truly, Manuel Vason, Julien Vuillet, Kimberly Bianca Warren, Boris Edelstein, Ville Hyvönen