Battle Scene

• 2009
• Public Architectural Projection

• Description

  For this installation we propose a complex battle scene inspired both by Akbar (Mughal 1526-1858 CE) and Western panoramas of conflict. We will create a multiple projection installation with animated figures. The animation will be in real-time (as opposed to a pre-recorded/rendered form); this will allow participation by gallery/performance visitors to affect the rendering and direction of the visual narrative. This battle scene will consist of a series of vignettes- a fountain of dead people, gun fighters, knife fighters and nihilist observers (inspired by those who came out to picnic during Civil War battles). This piece does not depict any specific war in the present or the past. Rather, it meditates the violence and conflict dispersed around the world. By placing young people in their everyday clothing engaged in the position of the aggressor and the victim, the dead and the living, and the soldier and the bystander, the piece amplifies the absurdity of youth as fighters. It laments the irony of a younger generation engaged in conflicts perpetuated by the older generation. The idea of graphic images in a panoramic landscape has been one that Schmid has been employing in her prints and both of us started looking to the panoramic battle scene for inspiration simultaneously. It is also been a favorite format in Momeni's large-scale outdoor projections and works naturally with the multiple projection format. Complex battle scene panoramas from both the Mughal era and artists such as Jacques Callot inspire us formally. The ability of these images to engage the viewer through visual complexities, multiple narratives and temporality, and an expansive viewpoint is awe-inspiring; we use interactive media to depart from this mood towards a contemporary sensibility and a participatory and immersive media-rich installation. Live performance, recorded on Cedar Ave. in Minneapolis (next to The Nomad), for the 2009 Mobile Music Symposium at UMN.

• Acknowledgements

  A collaborative project with Jenny Schmid in collaboration with The MAW.