VULCANO EOLICO (1991/92)
By Aeolian Lipara an island rises steeply on
spray-steaming rocks in the sea near Sicily's flank.
(Virgil The Aeneid 8.416-17)
The video installation VULCANO EOLICO consists of three monitors and a videoprojection. The monitors are mounted on pedestals which stand close together, forming one unit. The videoprojection is on the wall or on a projection screen and occupies a somewhat isolated position to the right of the monitors. The three monitors show a panorama shot of the edge of the large crater of the Eolian island Vulcano (Italy). The video projection shows part of the space above the crater. This space is part of the panorama as well, but then shifted somewhat to the right.
The chief motif of the installation is the vulcanic smoke which escapes from a cavity directly under the outer edge of the crater, and which, due to the direction of the wind during the making of the recording, is blown over the edge of the crater. This smoke forms the plume which is characteristic of Vulcano and which, judging by the poetry of Virgil, has dominated the appearance of the island for centuries.
On the monitors, the viewer sees the trail of smoke flowing past continually from left to right. This can be seen in the videoprojection as well, but by then the plume of smoke has become much wider and is beginning to disperse. On the third monitor, wisps of smoke can now and then be seen escaping from the earth over the edge of the crater. Because of the leeward position, these fine plumes rise up in the opposite direction and sometimes influence the dynamic of the other smoke there as it just passes the edge of the crater. This motif of wafting smoke represents the domain of the classical gods Vulcan and Aeolus and can be for the whole duration of the installation, practically without interruption.
Interwoven with this main image are several series of very short shots, which sometimes completely break through the smoke, but which are more usually partly concealed behind the smoke. These images are largely taken from TV newsreels and documentaries, which were compiled for this project during the first half of 1991. These series of TV images, which each have their own rhythm, show a contemporary processing of a number of themes woven around Vulcan and his association to other mythological figures, especially Minerva and the monster Typhoon. Vulcan was the god of fire, the blacksmith of Jupiter and sometimes of other gods, and the maker of all kinds of ingenious things. Because of his association with fire he has long been seen as the founder of human civilisation. He worked together with Minerva, who, apart from the significance which she had as the protector of handiwork and applied arts, was not only the goddess of science and wisdom, but at the same time also a goddess of war. The stories surrounding the birth of Vulcan sometimes merge with the stories surrounding the birth of the mythological monster Typhoon. This monster, who was imprisoned deep under the earth between Sicily and Italy, symbolized both the rumbling of vulcanos and earthquakes, as well as the destructive power of storms.
Unlike my earlier video installations, in which the different layers of images were spread over all the monitors, the images in this installation are largely concentrated on one place: the videoprojection. There are three main lines of images, associated with the collective sphere of activity of Vulcan, the ambiguous Minerva and the monster Typhoon. These layers of images can only be seen the video-projection, half-visible behind the smoke. Other themes connected with Vulcan and his consorts - such as associations with fire, the powers of nature, primordial elements and primitive forms of civilisation - are shown in the images which break through completely. The images are partly to be found in the three previously mentioned lines of images in the projection, but they sometimes also appear, and then synchronously, on all four screens: monitors and videoprojection.
Apart from the above mentioned synchronous images, the three connected video screens only show images which are not taken from television recordings, but which were specially shot for this project in the ruins of Pompeii. These images are alternately shown either disconnected from each other or in the form of 'broken' synchronous mixes. The synchronous mixes of Pompeii are brought to completion on the videoprojection, which at those moments is showing (television) images of ruins and associated factors, brought about as a consequence of the war in progress at the time that the television film footage was being compiled for this project.
The division which exists to some degree between the group of three monitors and the videoprojection is also carried through in the sound of the installation. For the 'Eolian' side of this project, Pien Stades has composed a piece of music for an instrument - called a bambuso sonoro - which was developed by Hans van Koolwijk. This composition, performed by Pien Stades herself, is linked to the main image of the three monitors and the projection on the wall or on a screen. The 'Vulcanic' element has been given form by Rob Glotzbach. He has made a melting-pot of sounds for the video projection, as well as the sound for the synchronous images.
The remix on this DVD is a configuration of three pictures in picture designed for one video projection on three panels and projection screen or wall.
(ndk 1992-2004)
installation (1991-92)
concept and script Nol de Koning, camera Louk Vreeswijk, Nol de Koning; editing Ivo van Stiphout; sound track Rob Glotzbach, sound mixing Studio Barradeel, Amsterdam, postproduction MonteVideo, Amsterdam, music Pien Stades WIND-FORCE 7 performed by the composer on a bambuso sonoro, created by Hans van Koolwijk;
four video tapes, 32'30", colour, sound (stereo), three video monitors, one video projection (wall or screen)
remix (2004)
concept Nol de Koning, online editing Ramon Coelho, postproduction Netherlands Media Art Institute |