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Multistable Fields

Willim, Robert LU orcid (2015)
Abstract
September 19th 2015 the exhibition/installation Multistable Fields opened in the atrium of the main building at Lund university. Here’s the synopsis:

The main building of Lund University was inaugurated in 1882. In the building conceived by architect Helgo Zettervall the rational quest for knowledge of Academia is enmeshed with a world of mythical symbols. Sphinxes and griffins meet deans and professors. Suggestive symbolism and ornamentation inspired by the worlds of classical antiquity meet contemporary rituals and processes.

The exhibition Multistable Fields by Robert Willim has been specially made for the atrium of the building. It is based on two works (In Praise of Other Places and Chambers – Atrium/Pyramid) that... (More)
September 19th 2015 the exhibition/installation Multistable Fields opened in the atrium of the main building at Lund university. Here’s the synopsis:

The main building of Lund University was inaugurated in 1882. In the building conceived by architect Helgo Zettervall the rational quest for knowledge of Academia is enmeshed with a world of mythical symbols. Sphinxes and griffins meet deans and professors. Suggestive symbolism and ornamentation inspired by the worlds of classical antiquity meet contemporary rituals and processes.

The exhibition Multistable Fields by Robert Willim has been specially made for the atrium of the building. It is based on two works (In Praise of Other Places and Chambers – Atrium/Pyramid) that emphasise tensions in the meetings between academic knowledge and the unknown. In these meetings some dimension merge and generates new knowledge and values, while other dimensions remain estranged. Like in the interpretation of multistable images and fields constant shifts of perspective are required to create meaning and understanding. The work with the exhibition has been guided by thoughts on ethnographic surrealism.

In Praise of Other Places is a series of prints based on altered images extracted from the timeline of the audiovisual performance Possible Worlds. The performance was a commissioned work for the Museum of Ethnography in Stockholm in 2014, which has since then led to a number of iterations. The aim was to let the artist examine the ways museums and ethnography take part in the rendition of worlds and how imagination and mediation is in constant interplay. How can dreamlike fragments of other places be evoked through altered layered compositions? The images in the series consist of interweaved layers that have been transmuted using digital and analog techniques. Everything from light reflections to the limitations of various file formats have left media-specific traces and influenced the transmutation process, hereby making the interplay between enhancement and distortion intrinsic to the work. One of the images, in which a symmetrical object appears, differs from the others. The object recurs in a number of Willim’s works.

The sound installation Chambers – Atrium/Pyramid is based on site-specific sounds, composed to reshape the aural space and to generate a dreamlike ambience. The sound used has been recorded in the atrium as well as in the anechoic chamber, which is part of Humanities lab at the university. The sounds recorded in the anechoic chamber stem from the object that appears in one of the images of the exhibition. The sounds have been convolved with reverberation from the King’s chamber in the great pyramid at Giza. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Non-textual form
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Media art, site specific art, Sound Art, Digital Art
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
ba877fb2-6c53-4759-9c56-035693879961
alternative location
http://robertwillim.com/multistable-fields
date added to LUP
2016-11-26 21:33:09
date last changed
2018-11-21 21:27:41
@misc{ba877fb2-6c53-4759-9c56-035693879961,
  abstract     = {{September 19th 2015 the exhibition/installation Multistable Fields opened in the atrium of the main building at Lund university. Here’s the synopsis:<br/><br/>The main building of Lund University was inaugurated in 1882. In the building conceived by architect Helgo Zettervall the rational quest for knowledge of Academia is enmeshed with a world of mythical symbols. Sphinxes and griffins meet deans and professors. Suggestive symbolism and ornamentation inspired by the worlds of classical antiquity meet contemporary rituals and processes.<br/><br/>The exhibition Multistable Fields by Robert Willim has been specially made for the atrium of the building. It is based on two works (In Praise of Other Places and Chambers – Atrium/Pyramid) that emphasise tensions in the meetings between academic knowledge and the unknown. In these meetings some dimension merge and generates new knowledge and values, while other dimensions remain estranged. Like in the interpretation of multistable images and fields constant shifts of perspective are required to create meaning and understanding. The work with the exhibition has been guided by thoughts on ethnographic surrealism.<br/><br/>In Praise of Other Places is a series of prints based on altered images extracted from the timeline of the audiovisual performance Possible Worlds. The performance was a commissioned work for the Museum of Ethnography in Stockholm in 2014, which has since then led to a number of iterations. The aim was to let the artist examine the ways museums and ethnography take part in the rendition of worlds and how imagination and mediation is in constant interplay. How can dreamlike fragments of other places be evoked through altered layered compositions? The images in the series consist of interweaved layers that have been transmuted using digital and analog techniques. Everything from light reflections to the limitations of various file formats have left media-specific traces and influenced the transmutation process, hereby making the interplay between enhancement and distortion intrinsic to the work. One of the images, in which a symmetrical object appears, differs from the others. The object recurs in a number of Willim’s works.<br/><br/>The sound installation Chambers – Atrium/Pyramid is based on site-specific sounds, composed to reshape the aural space and to generate a dreamlike ambience. The sound used has been recorded in the atrium as well as in the anechoic chamber, which is part of Humanities lab at the university. The sounds recorded in the anechoic chamber stem from the object that appears in one of the images of the exhibition. The sounds have been convolved with reverberation from the King’s chamber in the great pyramid at Giza.}},
  author       = {{Willim, Robert}},
  keywords     = {{Media art; site specific art; Sound Art; Digital Art}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  title        = {{Multistable Fields}},
  url          = {{http://robertwillim.com/multistable-fields}},
  year         = {{2015}},
}