The impulse of the audiovisual room installation “SSSSIII” is firstly the location of the exhibition space next to Freedom Square. The public square which was officially renovated in 2009 reflects on both – the city and the people. By offering anthropological, historical and sociological insights, the Freedom Square acquires remarkable value as a research object. The installation work in the gallery space tries to reconsider the perception of attendance by concentrating on the relationship between observer and observable. Audio and video composition consisting of recordings acquires through eternal and infinite entity a focused montage in which some of the information has been removed and some highlighted.
In the first stage of the working procedure, series of cameras and audio recording devices observed passers-by, their movements and activities. As the end product of the audiovisual composition at the Estonian Academy of Arts’ Gallery one can see a unique installation which reconsiders spatial and temporal perception. The work creates a 360-degree panorama video projection on the walls of the exhibition space, accompanied by spatial 8-channel audio installation.
“While monitoring and recording the atmosphere of the Freedom Square, we realized that the public square is above all non-place[1] – a public space such as an airport or a bigger train station where you feel almost invisible among other people. People become more anonymous in a crowded place, gaining almost unseemly appearance due to lack of attention. While movement, rhythm and presence are retained, we decided to direct our attention to that.”
“SSSS” is a joint project by artist Sten Saarits and composer Sven Sosnitski. The duo creates audiovisual room installations. Cooperation between the artists began in 2013 with the work “The Great Wave”. It also symbolizes the four sequentially written and graphic wave form of the letter “s”.
Acknowledgments: Helena Keskküla, Mihkel Šanin, Pille-Riin Jaik.
Exhibition is supported by Estonian Cultural Endowment and Jaanihanso.
[1] Non-places is a phrase coined by Marc Augé to refer to anthropological spaces of transience that do not hold enough significance to be regarded as “places”. Non-places do not relate to identity, relations and history. They are rather characterized by anonymous solitude and homogeneity.