PLATEAURESIDUE

ALMA MATER

2018 | video instalacija

Video in produkcija P L A T E AU R E S I D U E
Zvoki: Damjan Oven x Gašper Tomaševič x Vince Hancock x Magnus Bugge
Zvočna obdelava: Simon Kavšek
Podpora: Zavod Projekt Atol x Muzej sodobne umetnosti Metelkova +MSUM

Alma Mater je video instalacija, ki raziskuje posledice podnebnih sprememb v Ledeni jami pri Kunču v Kočevskem Rogu. Količina trajnega jamskega ledu se je v desetih letih zaradi blage zime z malo snega in toplih poletij zmanjšala za 1m.
Med najinim obiskom sva posnela video, ki dokumentira kako sva uporabila kos zlomljenega ledenega stalaktita za oblikovanje ledene leče. Ta leča je bila uporabljena za beleženje notranjosti jame in je simbolizirala nekakšen perverzni trenutek, saj je zabeležila objekt (ledeni pokrov), ki izginja skozi dejanski material (ledena leča), ki izginja. Video se konča, ko se ledna leča popolnoma stopi.

Alma Mater is an immersive video installation that deals with the consequences of climate change in Ice Cave at Kunč near Kočevski Rog Virgin Forest, Slovenia. The quantity of permanent cave ice has been decreasing by 1 meter in 10 years due to mild winters with little snow and warm summers. During one of our visits, we have recorded a video that documents how we used a piece of broken ice stalactite to shape the ice lens. This lens was used to record the inside of the cave and represented a semi-perverse moment because it recorded the object (ice cover) that is disappearing through the actual material (ice lens) that is disappearing. The video ends when the ice lens completely melts.

Alma Mater - cinematic teaser for P L A T E AU R E S I D U E ' s video installation from P L A T E AU R E S I D U E on Vimeo.

Ko sva leta 2018 končala delo Ex Topia, naju je kreativna pot vodila v odkrivanje drugih okolij, kjer led izginja kot posledica globalnega segrevanja. To so ledene jame, v katerih je celo leto led. Ekosistem ledenih jam je zelo občutljiv na nihanja povprečnih temperatur, ki nastajajo kot posledica podnebnih sprememb. V zadnjem času je zaradi milih zim izostala akumulacija ledu, vse toplejša poletja pa so povzročila vse hitrejše taljenje in umik nakopičenega ledu. Najino raziskovanje se je osredinilo na Ledeno jamo pri Kunču, globoko v gozdu planotastega površja Kočevskega Roga, ki je z nekaj več kot 800 m nadmorske višine najniže ležeča ledena jama s stalnim ledom v Sloveniji in je zato še posebej občutljiva. Jama je dolga 81 m in globoka 42 m. Je statična ledena jama z velikim vhodom, ki je usmerjen na sever. Zaradi vdora hladnega zraka, ki nato zastaja na dnu, se pozimi temperature na dnu niti poleti ne povzpnejo nad 3 stopinje Celzija. Primarni vir ledu je sneg, ki zdrsne z okoliških pobočij v jamo in se zaradi teže spremeni v led, sekundarni vir pa so ledene formacije, ki nastanejo zaradi kapljanja vode s stropa na ohlajeno dno jame.
V 19. stoletju je bila ledenica pomemben vir ledu, ki so ga vozili v zdravilišče Dolenjske Toplice. Led iz jame so domačini izkoriščali vse do druge svetovne vojne.
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After completing the work Ex Topia in 2018 the creative path led us to discover other environments where ice is slowly disappearing due to global warming. We became intrigued with ice caves and its ecosystems, which are very sensitive to fluctuations in average temperatures and global warming effects. Recent mild winters have caused a lack of accumulation of ice, while warm summers caused rapid melting and retreat of accumulated ice. We focused our research on Ice cave at Kunč deep inside Kočevski Rog mountain plateau. This cave is the lowest altitude ice cave in Slovenia (just over 800m) and very sensitive to environmental changes. The cave is 81m long and 42m deep. The cave is a static ice cave, with a large, north-oriented entrance and simple morphology. During the winter temperatures in the cave drop as freezing air from the outside intrudes the cave. The primary source for the ice formation is snow from surrounding slopes that slides into the cave and is compacted into ice over time. The secondary source of ice is frozen ice bodies that form from water drops dripping from the ceiling.
In the 19th century, the Ice cave at Kunč provided the Dolenjske Toplice Spa Center with ice supplies, as the ice was extracted and transported to the town. The ice had been commercially extracted until the Second World War.

Primerjava sodobnih fotografij s tistimi iz leta 1900 nam nazorno pokaže, kako se je ledeni pokrov v jami znižal za 5 m, od tega 2 m v zadnjih 20 letih. Industrializacija in raba fosilnih goriv sta vzrok za podnebne spremembe in hitro izginjanje ledu na planetu. Glavni problem, da so mnoga najbolj ogrožena območja skrita in oddaljena od javnosti, pa ostaja. Želela sva zasnovati atmosferično videoinstalacijo in gledalcem predstaviti posledice podnebnih sprememb. Najin cilj je bil narediti delo, ki odraža hitro izginevanje ledu, zato sva razvila idejo, da bi izginevanje pokazala skozi dejanski objekt, ki izginja.
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Comparing the photographs that portray present ice volumes and the ones from 1900 show, that in a good century, up to 5m of ice disappeared in Ice cave at Kunč, 2m in the last 20 years alone. The industrial development and fossil fuel usage are responsible for ice retreat in many parts of our planet. The main problem of the affected places is that they are hidden away from the eyes of the public. Our intention was to create an immersive video installation based on the experience of global warming consequences its distribution to the public. We wanted to create a project that would reflect this disappearance. We developed an idea in which we used the disappearing object as a medium that documents its own disappearance – ice lens.

Video Alma Mater je dokumentacija najine umetniške akcije v jami. Tam sva našla delčke odlomljenega ledenega stalaktita. Iz njegovega povsem prozornega ledu sva oblikovala ledeno lečo. S pomočjo doma izdelanega nastavka sva ledeno lečo pričvrstila na kamero in jo uporabila za snemanje filma. Snemanje z ledeno lečo je bil intimni in perverzni trenutek, saj je bil sneman objekt, ki izgineva, posnet skozi sam material, ki izgineva. Posnetek se konča, ko se led povsem stopi.
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The video Alma Mater documents our artistic action in the cave. A fallen ice stalactite was collected and a lens was shaped from its transparent ice. It was installed in a DIY camera extension and used for the recording of the cave features. The shooting with the ice lens was an intimate, tragic and rather perverse moment because it recorded what is disappearing through the actual material that is disappearing. The recording ends when the lens fully melts.

Včasih preproste pojave v naravi spregledamo in o njih nikoli ne razmišljamo, še posebej ne znotraj polja sodobne umetnosti. Z delom Alma Mater sva poskušala gledalcu približati izkušnjo ledenih jam in ledu, tako da sva s kamero intimno odkrivala pojave, ki jih občudujeva: fosilni led, ledene stalagmite in stalaktite, ki počasi izginjajo. Magične podobe lokacije so kombinirane z realnostjo sveta znotraj jame. Ime Alma Mater nakazuje na izobraževalno inštitucijo, ki osebi podeli akademski naziv, v projektu pa je uporabljeno kot povezava z naravo. Ta je in bo ostala vir življenja, zato prezirava indoktrinacijo in institucionalno ozadje ter se osredinjava na globoko izkustvo narave in ne zgolj na njeno znanstveno materialnost. To je pričetek, cilj in točka, na katero se vselej vračava.
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Sometimes the simplest occurrences in nature are overlooked and not taken into deeper consideration, especially in contemporary art practices. With Alma Mater we wanted to bring the viewer closer into ice caves by intimately focusing the camera towards beautiful objects of our admiration – permanent ice cover, ice stalagmites and ice stalactites that are disappearing.
Magical images from the locations are combined with a poetic yet realistically depicted world of ice caves. Alma Mater with its name, meaning an educational institution on which an individual has acquired his graduate title, refers to the binding to nature that becomes, and has always been, our source of life. We neglect the indoctrinated aspect of institutional background and focus more on the experience of nature and not its scientific materialization. This is the start, finish and anchor to where we return.

V svojem delu se boriva proti pasivnosti do pokrajin prihodnosti, ta pasivnost je zelo razširjena zaradi človeške želje po materialnem. Pri snovanju instalacij si želiva svojo izkušnjo prenesti gledalcu. Najino delo sporoča o neprecenljivi moči posameznika, da vpliva na svet okrog sebe in doseže pozitivno spremembo v ravnanju z okoljem. Pri tem je pomemben vsak človek. To poskušava doseči tako, da snujeva senzorične predstavitve podnebnih sprememb, ki so v močnem kontrastu s prevladujočo medijsko apokaliptično percepcijo globalnega segrevanja. V svojem delu združujeva estetske elemente, ki izvirajo iz prepleta geografije, umetnosti, znanosti, ekologije, zgodovine, filozofije in drugih prvin, predvsem pa temelijijo na ambientu.
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We fight against the cultural passivity towards future landscapes that is widely spread due to materialistic human greed. By creating atmospheric installations we want to share and represent our own experience to others. Our work carries a message about individual’s enormous power to influence the world and achieve positive changes in the current conditions or the environment. Every single person counts.We are trying to achieve this when creating intimate, sensual and sensory presentations, showing a perfect contrast to the media apocalyptic perceptions of global warming. In our works, we search for the aesthetically recognizable elements that are rooted in the intertwines of geographical, artistic, historical, ecological, botanical, philosophical, artistic and above all ambient solutions.