The Aqueduct Behind My Eyes
Keeps Rebuilding
immersive ambient installation
2023
The immersive ambient installation The Aqueduct Behind My Eyes Keeps Rebuilding is a speculative meditation on generating virtual landscapes as a means of embodying different states of human consciousness. Gathering inspiration The Hollow Earth theory as well as 20th century science fiction literature, the work takes the viewer on a journey through what is essentially the same landscape, but perceived in different psychological states. The installation is comprised of a 3D animation being projected onto transparent acrylic glass, accompanied with sound, four 3D visualizations printed on transparent acrylic glass as well as amorphic sculptures covered in sea salt that merely allude to the geological forms being shown in the 3D landscapes. The viewers are welcome to watch the projected piece while sitting on the floor covered with reflective film which evokes the appearance of a liquid's surface. Furthermore, the projection is reflecting itself on the front and back wall of the gallery, thus creating an immersive experience for the viewer.
view of the installation at the 63. Poreč Annale, curated by KUĆĆA collective, Poreč, Croatia
photos by Andi Bančić & Gaia Radić
Layers which stack one upon the other, colliding and intertwining, forming abstract subaquatic landscapes. Within them, geological forms become metaphors for states of human consciousness, and each level is merely an echo of the inner labyrinth. The water travelling through each of the layers alludes to the liquids that flow through our cerebral systems irrigating its bloodied furrows and filling cracks with wakefulness. Seismic waves extend far beyond the familiar, leaving traces of the unknown in the heart of the disembodied observer.
The first level, the Crust, exists as an elusive objectivity of the external world, forever locked away from the subjectivity of our sensory touch.
The second level, the Mantle, portrays transcendence where the contours of reality fade and blend with subjectivity. It is the space that hovers between reality and imagination, where thoughts and feelings merge with matter.
The third level, the Outer Core, represents a cold danger, a labyrinth of unknown depths deeply submerged in the subconscious. Dreams become a part of reality, and reality fades into forgotten dreams.
The fourth level, the Inner Core, is the deepest chamber of the human spirit, purified from the influence of the external world, nourishing the illusion of clarity. It shines in the light of awakened consciousness, but boundaries become unreal, transforming into the murmur of the substrate through which the enigma continues its voyage.
