United Moving Image Artists are offering an installation called “Paradise Garden – Botanics of the Frame” and this is a table-height area, full of plants interspersed with small digital acrylic frames upon which UMA artists have imagined new plant species.
The Dimensions of Paradise Garden are: 275cm wide x 275cm long x 120cm high at the front (think of that as basically a square area you look over) where the part of the installation furthest away from the initial viewing position will be 150cm high – such that the work has a slight incline down to the front. The audience will be able to move around the whole looking in from every side. (Video below not accurate, but included to suggest possibilities).
RATIONALE
Nodding to ancient ideas concerning the garden, literally as part of paradise itself – the Garden of Eden in ancient Aramaic referring to a specific place within the desert in which there is shade from the sun, where water flows easily and the foods and fruits for sustaining life are readily available. In Aramaic both the ideas of ‘garden’ and ‘paradise’ are synonymous. The secret garden has long been a place where people can dream of freedom – and in this sense UMA’s artists, nodding to Nam June Paik’s twentieth century ‘TV Garden’ have freely allowed themselves to imagine new growth, itself symbolic of the need for new ideas, in a world where contemporary human behaviour not only threatens our biome, but also generates the possibility for a renewal of that same biome. We invite curators, festival & gallery directors to accompany UMA in asking the audience to reflect on what this installation might mean. (Image below not accurate, but included to suggest possibilities).
So this small garden of plants interspersed by 12 frames in portrait aspect ratio, with images of imaginary plants growing within the frames demonstrates an intention to enforce the idea that artists add to human culture, just as human culture can itself add to our biome in a sustainable as opposed to destructive way.
Most of the frames will face to the front of the installation with some facing to the back and to the sides – so that as the audience circle’s the work they see it from all sides.* The frames are self-illuminated; the soundscape will be generated by the frames themselves each carrying a part of the overall soundtrack comprised of the sound of water and soothing background elements such as wind chimes (the exhibition location will be able to set the overall sound level so that it does not interfere with other artworks nearby). UMA would prefer this work to be exhibited in its own space – but we can see how it could be a centrepiece in larger gallery. What we offer below are current tests of UMA’s visual experiments to align our thinking such that curators may join in with our visual musings. (Video tests below, each with different temporary soundtracks).
Barrier Reef by Terry Flaxton
In The Garden Of The Crimson Queen by LIA
Disarming Plants by Nataša Prosenc Stearns
DETAILS
The overall structure will have an ’inner tank’ the depth of which is 25cm deep – but the surrounding sides that the audience will see will be 120cm at the front, with each side rising to 150 cm at the back. The ‘Garden’ element will be filled with lightweight wood chips in the ‘upper tank’ for the frames and plants to sit in**. Underneath this at a depth of 5cm, 12v DC cables run from 3 x 5 outlet dc chargers). The overall structure will require power into the unit and 3 small spotlights (or similar) with gobos on them to cut-up the light, will be suspended above ‘the garden’ – and these will produce a dappled light. Light levels should be low nearby.
* Nb there is an argument for one or two ten inch or 5 inch frames to vary the sizes
** UMA and the exhibition directors can debate whether we use plastic or real plants if the real plants were given the correct nutritious light were available at night – or if we use real plants then these can be rotated in use in the installation with some plants spending the day outside and swapped in to the installation to give other plants a break.
The Ritual [Tarkine 1] by Sadia Sadia
Invasive Growth by Tamiko Thiel
Clip 003 by John Sanborn
TECHNICAL DRAWINGS
Download PDF file | Download .docx file | Download .pages file
