In Search of Abandoned

2013 installation, CAVE – Interactive Virtual Environment, Christie Mirage HD6 stereoscopic DPL projectors, procedurally generated sound, rope, yacht wheel, custom interface, screen.

In Search of Abandoned allows visitors to explore a non-place in the Arctic Circle. The terrain presents itself as a three dimensional stereoscopic image – a lattice of woven geometry with dynamic sound bringing together an imagined view of place & an experienced one.

In 2010 at the request of Gibson, Martelli set off on a sailing expedition to find ‘Abandoned’ a non- place nestled in the archipelago of Svalbard. Gibson ‘discovered’ ‘Abandoned’ on Google maps – depicted as a mere dot in a white expanse. She began to build and construct her own view of his voyage and what ‘Abandoned’ may look, feel and sound like. As artists-in-residence at CAFKA/Christie after keeping Martelli’s documentation, footage and photographs under wraps for three years they exchanged ideas and began exploring virtual reality to create In search of Abandoned. The resulting work is where invention and memory collide, science & fiction merge.
In its attention to the expansive frozen lands and seas of ice, the 80ºN exhibition contemplates the overwhelming might of nature, its beauty and its vulnerability. In each project, the artists depart from classical representations of heroic voyages of discovery enabled by engineering mastery. Gibson/Martelli invite the viewer to observe the Arctic from a first-person perspective.