Rocio von Jungenfeld

Like Fish in Sand, 2011

Alchemy Film & Moving Image Festival, Hawick, Scotland

Interactive audiovisual installation in collaboration with Lucas Kao and Jessi Schmidt

Digital film, speakers, computers, projectors, sandpit, fish tank, water, sand, rake, stones

The video footage consists of visual metaphors such as: dew drops falling from the sky, blue clouds flowing with the stream, skin and hair submerged, sand crackles under the wood, an eye meets the pebbles under water, the skin disappears in favour of wax. The series of moving images function as magnifying glasses, and are abstract metaphors of the relationship between audiovisual media, body and outdoor environments.

The audiovisual installation consists of two projections, one onto a fish tank and another onto a sand pit. The installation combines natural materials, manufactured elements and digital projections to bring the embodied experience of outdoor spaces into the gallery space. The video footage, filmed in the Scottish Borders consists of close-up images of natural elements,and their interaction with the body; skin, hair, eyes, hands and feet blend with nature. The images have a direct relationship with the materials and elements of the installation.

The fish-tank is parallel to a wall, and in between the wall and a projection surface made of paper that hangs from the ceiling. The light brown sand in the sandpit functions unexpectedly as a projection screen on the floor, and needs to be accessible from all four sides. A handmade fishing-rod is next to the fish-tank, and a small rake in the sand. These are essential elements with which visitors can interact with the surfaces and intervene on the piece (water & sand surfaces).Visitors are welcome to interact and draw on the sand with the rake and to touch the water surface with the float of the fishing-rod.

Below, there is a short documentary about the making of the installation piece. The video is password protected at the moment, so if you want to see it just type “likefishinsand”.