Timeline-Antarctica

TIMELINE-ANTARCTICA is the first in a series of audio-visual works with the collective title ‘DETECTOR’. It is an extension and refinement of the original ‘TIMELINE’ installation and was made as part of the international group exhibition, ‘AntArctica’, curated by Tone Lyngstad Nyaas; Haugar Vestfold Kunstmuseum, Tonsberg, Norway, September-November 2009. The AntArctica project involved fourteen multi-media artists who have all made work referencing the North or South Poles and the climate or environmental issues concerning them. The town of Tonsberg is the oldest settlement in Norway. The Kunstmuseum has an international reputation, is owned by Vestfold County and has thousands of visitors each year, and the installation was organized through a collaboration between the Kunstmuseum and the Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research.The importance of TIMELINE-ANTARCTICA within the exhibition is the fact that the electronics contained within it continually produce sounds triggered ‘live’ by the radioactive cosmic ray particles passing into our atmosphere. These sounds could be faintly heard throughout the two floors of the exhibition, acting as a reminder of the continual changes affecting our planet, the viewer`s immediate location and the places and objects depicted in the remainder of the exhibition. The DETECTOR series is concerned with revealing the invisible forces and rhythms that surround us – from light and sound waves through to radioactive particles of ‘stardust’. The development of the series involves research into the use of opto-electronic sound and light sensors, Geiger counters and audio transducers to trigger movement and sound through digital MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) control systems. Movement ranging from the rotation of the Earth, to the viewer`s own movement, down to the rapid movement of a radioactive particle can be utilized to trigger musical sounds and rhythms in the instruments and sculptures that interact with each MIDI interface.