Proposal:
Melancholy is the reverberated projection of identity. That is to say, melancholy results from intense introspection that can then flash out as creation. The sense of self and one’s surroundings—in particular, melancholy and its connection to the role of the artist—appeals to me.
I am proposing to do an installation on the role of melancholy as a tool for creation. The project will use up to four projectors which will throw onto a cylindrical transparent screen. Viewers can either watch the installation from the outside of the cylinder or enter and interact with the installation. Initially the viewer who enters the installation will be notified to sit down, the room will go dark, and music will begin to play. This will continue until the viewer stands up. Then, rapidly, as the viewer stands up, a rush of audio video will start pouring onto the screens and out of the speakers.
However, the view from outside the circle will be very different from that from inside the circle. By viewing from outside the circle you play spectator and rubbernecker to the person inside the installation. The sound, played when the person inside the installation sits down, is not audible. You see their reaction sans provocation. It is only once the person stands up and the projectors project that his emotion displays on the screens around him and you get an emotional response to respond to.
The analogy created by the installation places the viewers in the role of a melancholic creative person, whose emotion exhibits only once inspiration overcomes deep introspection; like a capacitor that looks idle releasing its charge when it has reached maximum capacity—as opposed to a battery whose energy is ever-present, but constant.
Technical Description:
Dimensions: Needs:
16 ft – 16 ft Two projectors
Requested dates:
One week between November 10 to December 9
