Public Commission for the new Mediathèque in Sorgues. June 2010
Launch planned for
26 September 2010
Five permanent installations throughout the building, including a major new interactive video work.
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Trajectoires
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Central to our intervention in Sorgues' new cultural facility is this installation for the entrance to the new library— the busy core of the building—visible from the hall, from the exterior, from the adult and the children’s library spaces and surrounded by circulation.
High above the librarian’s desk at the centre of this double height space floats a plane of pattern and colour—in reality a Da-lite screen (a translucent slab of white which diffuses the video image in all directions with bright, intense colour, even in daylight). On the screen is projected a new fixed-camera installation (using a software that we had already been developing during our Still life with… project) which we have finally perfected here to make a permanent, autonomous installation. Based on the principle of the kaleidoscope, it produces symmetrical patterns from live video; but the addition of time as an element in the composition—by letting patterns develop in pulses over several seconds—allows a constant dialogue between the work developing on the screen and the activity in the busy public space around it.
Starting with live video that looks essentially like CCTV footage, the work conjures the innocent fascination of a kaleidoscopic image, in which visitors can discern themselves and their architectural surrounding. Placed at the heart of this municipal cultural facility, which resonates with the metabolism of the architecture, Trajectoires is central to this project concerning the everyday practices at the heart of any cultural activity.
