Vessels – Wellington
New Zealand International Arts Festival
Vessels was composed of 33 transparent vessels of water suspended upon the three-storey high central atrium wall of the museum, illuminated by spotlights from above. The vessels were arranged in seven lines of five – 33 filled with water and 2 filled with ash. Four digital animations were projected at regular intervals onto the installation. The installation’s thirty-three vessels represent the thirty-three songs (cantos) that make up Purgatorio, the second book of the Divine Comedy. The ‘movements’ take the form of four animations accompanied by music and projected onto the surfaces of the bowls. In 1) Vessel, horizontal lines of light symbolize the sunrise. In 2) Aquilon, vertical lines of light oscillate to represent midday. In 3) Tidings, ever-expanding concentric rings symbolize sunset. And in 4) Innocence, stars climb heavenward to erupt into nighttime.
Vessels was composed of 33 transparent vessels of water suspended upon the three-storey high central atrium wall of the museum, illuminated by spotlights from above. The vessels were arranged in seven lines of five – 33 filled with water and 2 filled with ash. Four digital animations were projected at regular intervals onto the installation. The installation’s thirty-three vessels represent the thirty-three songs (cantos) that make up Purgatorio, the second book of the Divine Comedy. The ‘movements’ take the form of four animations accompanied by music and projected onto the surfaces of the bowls. In 1) Vessel, horizontal lines of light symbolize the sunrise. In 2) Aquilon, vertical lines of light oscillate to represent midday. In 3) Tidings, ever-expanding concentric rings symbolize sunset. And in 4) Innocence, stars climb heavenward to erupt into nighttime.
Museum of Wellington City and Sea
Wellington 2010
Concept
Daniel K. Brown
Animation
Johann Nortje
Music
Mark K. Johnson
Vessels
Installation
JOHANN NORTJE 