Forest
a revised installation of this work, Peripheral Panorama, can be found here
click here for pdf
C.V. Rune Peitersen
A video installation by Rune Peitersen 2006
2 DVDs (left and right), 14:00 min. loop
DVD-PAL
©Rune Peitersen 2006
Forest is a dual dvd projection installation based on the visual experience of walking through a dark forest.
It was filmed simultaneously on two cameras. The cameras were attached to a custom-built device which allowed them to be held in one hand while walking, each at an angle of 40 degrees to the walking direction. At this angle the cameras outer field of vision corresponds with that of a humans stereoscopic vision (62 degrees to each side of the nose). However, as the cameras fields of view don’t overlap in front, the normal field of visual attention is left ‘blank’.
The footage was shot while walking through a dark forest, and thereafter edited to enhance the shadow/light contrast and eliminate the colour nuances, rendering it duochrome. The colour green is ambivalent in both suggesting something organic and toxic. It is also the colour with the narrowest field of view to the human eye, making it more difficult for the viewer to get a grasp of the imagery.
In the installation the two movies are projected onto two screens hanging in a darkened room at an angle similar to the cameras when the footage was shot. The viewer is theoretically able to encompass both screens in his field of vision, but to do that he has to look between the screens into the dark, and consequently won’t be able to focus on any detail. However, due to the synchronous movement of the movies, he will experience moving ‘forward’ through the imagery. Even if he chooses to turn and pay more attention to one of the screens, the other screen will always linger at the edge of his field of vision.
The imagery is stylized in a way as to provide a sensation of moving through ‘something’ static, yet teeming with movement made up by the way the silhouettes of the forest interact. This creates a situation in which the viewer is constantly trying to control his focus, yet at the same time redirecting his field of vision and attention to ‘something at the corner of his eye’.
The narrative is in the movement of the cameras, the imagery of the shadows and the movement of the viewer as his (sub-) consciousness tries to make sense of the visual input.
click here for a video impression (requires quicktime, 16Mb)
screenshots from Forest paired horizontally
3d installation views
Technical and spatial requirements
2 beamers
2 screens capable of projection back
2 DVD players
A dark room. The minimum size requirements depend on the desired size of the screens. E.g. if the screens are 3m wide, the room must be at least 7x4m. For screens half the size, 1,5m, the minimum requirements would be appr. 3,5x2m (see installation diagram).
Although these minimum measurements would enable the installation to be built, it would be preferable if the final space were somewhat larger than the exact minimum requirements.
