INESCAPABLE ENTANGLEMENT
Premiered ARS ELECTRONICA 22 LINZ 7-11 SEPT
MEDIACOELI + XRE ENSEMBLE
Installation, AR Sculptures, Performance (09-09-2022)
“Inescapable Entanglement” is a posthumous narration of the emotional reaction to the climate change crisis. We ask “How can technology serve us?” while acknowledging that Solastalgia (distress caused by environmental change) grows. At the intersection of performance (Chekhov’s play "Uncle Vanya"), AR (live climate change metrics), soundscapes and biometric data visualization of physiological responses we invite audiences to discover possibilities of living on an intrinsically entangled Planet.
The artwork is composed of elements reclaimed from the landscape destroyed by wildfires. On the ground, you will find Cubes made of recovered wood from a wildfire in Italy (Toscana, 19/07/2022, 195 hectares) with the QR acting as a bridge to the simulacrum that describes and represents the incendiary devastation.
In an anti-extractivist logic, we were concerned to develop a project that, rather than consuming resources, would strive to create a dialogue between what is lost and what is possible to create in the process. In the Mediterranean area, 2022 is a record year for fires: while in the last 15 years the average has been 263 for the entire season, those that have broken out in Italy since the beginning of the year have already reached 243. Data from Effis shows that as of 23 July, just over 515,000 hectares (1.27m acres) of land had been burned across EU countries. This is four times the average recorded since 2006, and is nearly twice the previous record seen across this time.
The phenomena involves all of Europe, since the goal of carbon offsetting seems even more distant if we consider the years it takes for a tree to grow and reabsorb the substances released into the atmosphere. The installation aims to connect the surroundings with the users through an immersive audiovisual experience. You are listening to a soundscape created by the trees that surround you. A Plantwave device is attached to the leaves through sensors. They pick up the slight electronic variations within the tree.
These variations are then graphed as a wave which is translated into pitch messages that trigger a midi instrument. Sit down and enjoy the sonic scape that these trees provide for you.
As Mediacoeli, we translated data into matter. These forests have become the raw material for building a fundamental awareness to protect our healing landscapes as eco-systemic, not ego-systemic beings.
In an anti-extractivist logic, we were concerned to develop a project that, rather than consuming resources, would strive to create a dialogue between what is lost and what is possible to create in the process. In the Mediterranean area, 2022 is a record year for fires: while in the last 15 years the average has been 263 for the entire season, those that have broken out in Italy since the beginning of the year have already reached 243. Data from Effis shows that as of 23 July, just over 515,000 hectares (1.27m acres) of land had been burned across EU countries. This is four times the average recorded since 2006, and is nearly twice the previous record seen across this time.
The phenomena involves all of Europe, since the goal of carbon offsetting seems even more distant if we consider the years it takes for a tree to grow and reabsorb the substances released into the atmosphere. The installation aims to connect the surroundings with the users through an immersive audiovisual experience. You are listening to a soundscape created by the trees that surround you. A Plantwave device is attached to the leaves through sensors. They pick up the slight electronic variations within the tree.
These variations are then graphed as a wave which is translated into pitch messages that trigger a midi instrument. Sit down and enjoy the sonic scape that these trees provide for you.
As Mediacoeli, we translated data into matter. These forests have become the raw material for building a fundamental awareness to protect our healing landscapes as eco-systemic, not ego-systemic beings.
Project Credits / Acknowledgements:
Concept and production: Letizia Artioli, Luca Cacini, Clara Francesca and Anne Wichmann
AR,Installation,Projection:Letizia Artioli
Poetry by Clara Francesca
Quotes from *Uncle Vanya* by Anton Chekhov
Music and soundscapes by Anne Wichmann (She’s Excited!)
GRS Sensor POC by Mirko Pirisi and Salvatore Isaia
Arduino Engineer Gabriele Torelli
Presented by XRE and MEDIACOELI with kind support from the US Embassy in Vienna