Mesocosm, Marina Zurkow
AV Festival 12: As Slow As Possible, Newcastle
Marina Zurkow
Mesocosm (Northumberland UK)
International Festival of Art, Technology, Music and Film
1 - 31 March 2012
Mesocosm (Northumberland UK) is a 146-hour animated portrait of the Northumberland moors representing one year of real time. One hour of time elapses each minute: the work continuously changes in response to software driven data inputs, influenced by the simulated ecosystems of environmental science.
As the 146-hour cycle unfurls in a choreographed sequence of chance, animated objects are placed on a stage, and code determines the frequency and order of their appearance. No cycle is identical to the last, as the appearance of characters and seasonal weather are determined by a simple probability equation. Mesocosm is long in duration and recombines perpetually as inputs determine order, density, and interrelationships. They are looped, and have no beginning or end: change happens slowly, but can be radical over time.
Seasons unfold, snows fall, days pass, moons rise, animals come and go, and the omnipresent man in the garden (based on a painting of Leigh Bowery by Lucien Freud), both corporeal and a magical source of food, offers his body to nourish the garden feeders. Real, mythical and man-made elements interact as they cross the stage of this British landscape, in an expanded view of what constitutes 'nature'.
Also on view were Heraldic Crests for Invasive Species, designed for twelve of the most successful modern invaders of North East England.
This project was conceived by US artist Marina Zurkow during a research residency at D6 in 2009. Marina Zurkow is a critically acclaimed American artist who makes psychological narratives about humans and their relationship to animals, plants and the weather.
Exhibition Details
Vane
Part of AV Festival 12: As Slow As Possible
International Festival of Art, Technology, Music and Film
1 - 31 March 2012
Newcastle, Gateshead, Middlesbrough, Sunderland
AV Festival 12: As Slow As Possibleis a Festival in slow motion. For the first time the Festival runs for a whole month from 1 – 31 March 2012. It’s the most adventurous edition to date including over 15 major exhibitions, more than 50 film screenings and music events, weekend walks and an online radio broadcasting for 744 hours. The programme takes place at different speeds, paces and times of day across Newcastle, Gateshead, Middlesbrough and Sunderland, including an accelerated 24 Hour Launch.
Mesocosm (Northumberland UK)
International Festival of Art, Technology, Music and Film
1 - 31 March 2012
Mesocosm (Northumberland UK) is a 146-hour animated portrait of the Northumberland moors representing one year of real time. One hour of time elapses each minute: the work continuously changes in response to software driven data inputs, influenced by the simulated ecosystems of environmental science.
As the 146-hour cycle unfurls in a choreographed sequence of chance, animated objects are placed on a stage, and code determines the frequency and order of their appearance. No cycle is identical to the last, as the appearance of characters and seasonal weather are determined by a simple probability equation. Mesocosm is long in duration and recombines perpetually as inputs determine order, density, and interrelationships. They are looped, and have no beginning or end: change happens slowly, but can be radical over time.
Seasons unfold, snows fall, days pass, moons rise, animals come and go, and the omnipresent man in the garden (based on a painting of Leigh Bowery by Lucien Freud), both corporeal and a magical source of food, offers his body to nourish the garden feeders. Real, mythical and man-made elements interact as they cross the stage of this British landscape, in an expanded view of what constitutes 'nature'.
Also on view were Heraldic Crests for Invasive Species, designed for twelve of the most successful modern invaders of North East England.
This project was conceived by US artist Marina Zurkow during a research residency at D6 in 2009. Marina Zurkow is a critically acclaimed American artist who makes psychological narratives about humans and their relationship to animals, plants and the weather.
Exhibition Details
Vane
Part of AV Festival 12: As Slow As Possible
International Festival of Art, Technology, Music and Film
1 - 31 March 2012
Newcastle, Gateshead, Middlesbrough, Sunderland
AV Festival 12: As Slow As Possibleis a Festival in slow motion. For the first time the Festival runs for a whole month from 1 – 31 March 2012. It’s the most adventurous edition to date including over 15 major exhibitions, more than 50 film screenings and music events, weekend walks and an online radio broadcasting for 744 hours. The programme takes place at different speeds, paces and times of day across Newcastle, Gateshead, Middlesbrough and Sunderland, including an accelerated 24 Hour Launch.