B) ILLUSTRATIVE REPORT
The work consists of an artistic multimedia installation, temporary and fully reversible, inaugurated on October 22nd 2009 and to be exposed throughout about one month. It is an “open sky room” rectangular shaped, built at the West end of the Tiber Island and consisting of 4 wide walls about 5 mt high, 1 mt thick and respectively 25,6 mt and 13.8 mt long, on which images in sequence and sort films are screened.
The structure is completely built of wood and designed to be easily assembled and disassembled (in case of flood) and consists of reticular frames, 5 mt high and 1 mt wide, located perpendicularly to the walls of the "room" and at 1.22 mt distance one from the other. Such frames are connected, either internally and externally, by secondary structural components and by ending panels of marine multilayer wood with typical dimensions 2.5 by 1.22 mt.
The continuity of the structure is interrupted by openings of different dimensions, some real windows which positions are apparently casual, that permit the images screened inside to be visible at outside too. The internal walls are properly coated in order to guarantee an excellent visual return of the screened images, while the external ones are plastered, smoothed and light color painted. Everything is linked up to the ground by means of an indented plinth that permits to visually tolerate the irregularities of the existing flooring and the slope for the rain flowing. Between the internal and external wall surfaces, inside the "walls thickness" itself, respectively in the upper and lower part, are located the projectors and the loudspeakers together with some large water tanks. The last ones are properly sized and designed in order to ballasting the structure to the ground in a fully reversible way and prevent the overturn of the wide walls.
The installation is conceived to be used going inside through two wide openings located in the smaller sides or walking at the outside watching the images across the windows or even from various points of view of the context. An almost baroque and ephemeral concept of public space, theatre of events, that allows several points of view to watch and enjoy the urban sight.
Find herebelow the description of the artist and author of the work that relates the experience he wants to propose to the users and to the town:
“The proposed artistic installation is a multimedia one located in the West end of the Tiber island. It is a standalone architectural structure that, in the evenings, lights up with moving images that can be seen from several privileged points of view both from inside and outside. You can imagine to walk on the Fabricius bridge, at the twilight. When you cross the bridge, you note a slow and animated light flow given out from a wide white structure, with a strictly modern and minimal design. A sort of building rectangular shaped that looks in full contrast with the ancient organic town all around it. When you go closer and focus on it you realize that the surrealistic and white structure is really bright, shining from the inside. Some rectangular and clean figures, that look as windows, have been removed from the austere structure and filled with moving images. You will realize that the roof is missing and that gigantic images can be distinguished inside, while you approach coming from some privileged locations. The structure, that looks modern outside, is virtually alive inside: short films, images, stories, sequences come out with unforeseeable energy. What you see attracts you and makes you approaching. The structure comes out from the island. The images get synchronizing and playing around a constellation of screens, images that can be viewed also from the outside through the windows, images that act as a fragmented but consistent story. When you enter the structure you are plunged in the synchronized images that are playing together at the inside, that bring you into the installation itself and inside an unique experience. Once you are inside, the windows are not more visible and you are completely absorbed by the light of the images that fully cover the walls and move around you under an open and nocturnal sky.
Doug Aitken, Rome 2009".