Rossella's page

edited version

1. sixteen drifters

sixteen drifters is a reflection on the nature of evil disguised as a simple board game. it is a game however where no player, except for the maker, is aware of their role—or that they are playing at all—until they have actually become involved. the maker makes the first move by inviting sixteen individuals chosen at random. each player receives a postcard, with a monochrome print—a fragment of some unknown object—on the front; on the back is a unique code connected to a web tracker working in real time. the tracker is visualized as a blank board with sixteen identical frames divided in four rows of four frames each. the players are given the opportunity to respond to the invitation by using their code, activating one piece of the puzzle and filling the frame corresponding to the image on their own postcard. with no previous insight, will the hypothetical players take a small leap of faith and react? will they doubt? will they simply ignore the summons? the game ends when all pieces are revealed on the board, but the solution of the puzzle is not the ultimate goal of the game. rather, the process of action and reaction set in motion by the maker is.

the production phase moved along independent and yet connected paths. first there was an attempt to reinvent the classic myth of pandora following closely hesiod’s telling of it in the work and days. a monochrome image was produced by means of juxtaposition of documental photography and computer generated imagery: a monumental pithos set against the backdrop of a rocky wasteland. the second concern was to make the project a collective effort within a tight time limit. sets of sixteen postcards were produced from the image of the pithos by breaking it apart, with each postcard holding a piece of the original image. by employing a mixture of randomizing generators, sixteen people were chosen at random and were each sent a postcard.

the project was commissioned as a time-limited study on the meaning of the concepts of action and interaction within the scope of art making. some of the questions that were proposed as starting points for the work were “how to make the notion of happening meet the requirements of contemporary art and technological tools?”, “what is the role of time and of setting an arbitrary timeframe for happenings to take place?” and “what are the limits, if there are any, of social interaction in happenings?” the idea was to connect contemporary art practices with the notion of “happening” as it was intended in the 60s and 70s.

2. hora incerta

hora incerta is an experiment in media hybridization carried out in narrative form. it is a film without the film and the skeleton of a story told through clashing storylines. ultimately, it is a glorified storybook where diverging timeframes are brought together through different languages and then loosely interwoven. it collides the visual and the verbal by associating still images of empty spaces—mundane places supposedly inhabited at some point but presented as vacant—and brief disjointed captions of a few words each. while image and text move in different directions, as there is apparently nothing in common between the two, their connection tries to establish for each the proper and necessary role within the scope of the project as a whole.

the project was developed at first as a “fantasy” silent comic with a linear story line with death as its main character. it gradually moved away from the basic comic strip form to integrate elements from other languages, such as historical accounts of exploration trips and the classic hollywood melodrama with its use of evocative lighting and openly fake decor. the twenty-four black and white images that shape its visual side, each representing a specific time of the day, were produced by combining computer generated imagery and photographs. a text was subsequently drawn, partly based on accounts of the trip to iceland of german geologist walter von knebel in 1907 and of his mysterious disappearance.

the idea behind hora incerta is to bring a degree of uncertainty within the way visual storytelling is employed in classic narrative forms. at the core, the rationale behind it was investigating subjectivity in the common way of intending linear time as a succession of measurable fragments of time. at the same time, it was a contemplation on banality and the ordinary and on the attempt of eschewing death that comes with it. the project was commissioned for a group show on the general theme of “time.” in its current embodiment, it is still a work in progress.

old version

1. i. what sixteen drifters is a reflection on the nature of evil disguised as a simple board game. it is a game however where no player, except for the maker, is aware of their role—or that they are playing at all—until they have actually become involved. the maker makes the first move by inviting sixteen individuals chosen at random. each player receives a postcard with a unique code connected to a real-time web tracker. the players are given the opportunity to respond to the invitation by using their code, activating one piece of a puzzle. the game ends when all pieces are revealed, but the solution of the puzzle is not the ultimate goal of the game. rather, the process of action and reaction set in motion by the maker is.

ii. how the project moved in two independent directions. first there was an attempt to ruminate and reinvent the classic myth of pandora following closely hesiod´s telling of it in the “work and days.” an image was produced by means of juxtaposition of documental photography and computer generated imagery. the second concern was to make the project a collective effort within a tight time limit. sets of sixteen postcards were produced from the image, with each postcard holding a piece of the whole. by employing a mixture of randomizing generators, sixteen people were chosen at random and were each sent a postcard.

iii. why the project was commissioned as a time-limited study on the meaning of the concepts of action and interaction within the scope of art making. some of the questions that were proposed as starting points for the work were “how to make the notion of happening meet the requirements of contemporary art and technological tools?”, “what is the role of time and of setting an arbitrary timeframe for happenings to take place?” and “what are the limits, if there are any, of social interaction in happenings?” the idea was to connect contemporary art practices with the notion of “happening” as it was intended in the 60s and 70s.

2. i. what hora incerta is an experiment in media hybridization carried out in narrative form. it is a film without the film and the skeleton of a story told through clashing storylines. ultimately, it is a glorified storybook where diverging timeframes are brought together through different languages and then loosely interwoven. it collides the visual and the verbal, trying to establish for each the proper and necessary role within the scope of the project as a whole.

ii. how the project was developed at first as a “fantasy” silent comic with a linear story line and a main character. it gradually moved away from the basic comic strip form to integrate elements from other languages, such as historical accounts of exploration trips and set decor in the style of classic hollywood melodrama. twenty-four images, each representing a specific time of the day, were produced by combining computer generated imagery and photographs. a text was subsequently drawn, based on the trip of german geologist walter von knebel in 1907.

iii. why the idea behind hora incerta is to bring a degree of uncertainty within the way visual storytelling is employed in classic narrative forms. at the core, the rationale behind it was investigating subjectivity in the common way of intending linear time as a succession of measurable fragments of time. at the same time, it was a rumination on banality and the ordinary and on the attempt of eschewing death that comes with it. the project was commissioned for a group show on the general theme of “time.”

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