Tasman Richardson
Kali Yuga, 2019
Fully immersive multi-faceted media installation
01 entrance
The title of the exhibition, Kali Yuga (which translates to “The Age of Vice”), refers to a Hindu apocalypse tale. As the story goes, while dreaming of our universe and all of the people within it, a deity is suddenly stirred from sleep. Upon awakening, our shared reality is destroyed, ready to be rebuilt, anew.
Richardson draws parallels between Bentham’s panopticon design, the contemporary media landscape, and this ancient myth, framing our world as a fragmented feedback loop of hyper-connectivity, self-obsession and alienation.
Richardson draws parallels between Bentham’s panopticon design, the contemporary media landscape, and this ancient myth, framing our world as a fragmented feedback loop of hyper-connectivity, self-obsession and alienation.
02 Going Gray first view
A flat screen framed in a round portal reflects the ragged portrait of the viewer. A live feed is relayed over and over to a monitor, rescanned by a camera, to another monitor, and so on from room to room, until the live image returns from its journey. The portrait has been ferried through space optically, not by wired signal. Analog erosion from the passage draws creases, ripples, and noise into the flesh of the face.
03 Going Gray close
A flat screen framed in a round portal reflects the ragged portrait of the viewer. A live feed is relayed over and over to a monitor, rescanned by a camera, to another monitor, and so on from room to room, until the live image returns from its journey. The portrait has been ferried through space optically, not by wired signal. Analog erosion from the passage draws creases, ripples, and noise into the flesh of the face.
04 The Cave first view
A VHS camcorder films a couple in silhouette, intimate. Each time they record themselves they then swap the tape to a VCR which projects their act on a wall behind them. With each recording, the previous event recedes further away creating picture-in-picture depth. Observing themselves, they shift from subject to object, from self to other.
05 The Cave close up
A VHS camcorder films a couple in silhouette, intimate. Each time they record themselves they then swap the tape to a VCR which projects their act on a wall behind them. With each recording, the previous event recedes further away creating picture-in-picture depth. Observing themselves, they shift from subject to object, from self to other.
06 Fire and Theft
Tracking the sun’s course from multiple vantage points, our vision is multiplied by live webcams overlooking city skylines. The surface of the earth is folded in on itself forming our own panopticon. From this omnipresent vantage point, the sun is trapped, rising and setting from screen to screen from hour to hour, creeping ‘round the room like a tethered phoenix.
07 Fire and Theft close up
Tracking the sun’s course from multiple vantage points, our vision is multiplied by live webcams overlooking city skylines. The surface of the earth is folded in on itself forming our own panopticon. From this omnipresent vantage point, the sun is trapped, rising and setting from screen to screen from hour to hour, creeping ‘round the room like a tethered phoenix.
08 Sphere of Influence, Circle of Protection
POV projections of collisions. A reference to the parasitic relationship between anonymous lurkers and self-broadcasting dash cam posters. The panorama, similar to a vanity mirror, encompasses the peripheral view. Duplicate crashes rush in from every angle simultaneously. A powerful strobe casts the ghostly afterimage of blank walls and a shimmering circle from broken mirror glare into the eyes where it resonates and builds with each additional collision.
09 Sphere of Influence, Circle of Protection - collision moment
POV projections of collisions. A reference to the parasitic relationship between anonymous lurkers and self-broadcasting dash cam posters. The panorama, similar to a vanity mirror, encompasses the peripheral view. Duplicate crashes rush in from every angle simultaneously. A powerful strobe casts the ghostly afterimage of blank walls and a shimmering circle from broken mirror glare into the eyes where it resonates and builds with each additional collision.
10 Ouroboros, wide view
Two cameras, two projections, looking at each other’s output produce an infinite feedback loop. Projection casts light, which creates tiny shadows in the imperfections of the wall. The iterations magnify and mutate into fragmented organic patterns. In addition to the image, the RCA video is split and filtered through an audio channel. Black translates as silence and white as full spectrum noise. The sound is shaped into resonating harmonics.
11 Ouroboros, close up
Two cameras, two projections, looking at each other’s output produce an infinite feedback loop. Projection casts light, which creates tiny shadows in the imperfections of the wall. The iterations magnify and mutate into fragmented organic patterns. In addition to the image, the RCA video is split and filtered through an audio channel. Black translates as silence and white as full spectrum noise. The sound is shaped into resonating harmonics.
12 Sands Stand Still
A monolithic pillar in two segments, joined at the center suggests the flow of time. A mirrored infinity cube, at the center, marks the eternal “now”. Electrical pulses and static replace sand in this hourglass, breathing in and out shifting from black to white. The noise drawn by the electron gun is heard by an induction mic. The sounds are sculpted into vowel sounds using formant filters: “In” and “Yo”. An old mantra translating as light, dark.
13 Sands Stand Still close up
A monolithic pillar in two segments, joined at the center suggests the flow of time. A mirrored infinity cube, at the center, marks the eternal “now”. Electrical pulses and static replace sand in this hourglass, breathing in and out shifting from black to white. The noise drawn by the electron gun is heard by an induction mic. The sounds are sculpted into vowel sounds using formant filters: “In” and “Yo”. An old mantra translating as light, dark.