![]() Caravel, 2003 Interactive Installation Now he could relax for the first time. He let his helplessness wash over him in soothing waves as he waited to be saved. What a relief it was, for responsibility to finally be out of his hands. The common meaning for the word caravan was once a group of people traveling through new or dangerous territory. Since the invention of the modern caravan its nomadic meaning has taken on a greater loneliness. In this piece, this nomadic, solitary caravan functions as a caravel, sailing toward a horizon it never reaches. The notion of being helpless as to what may emerge from behind this horizon inspired the imagery for this piece. With the acceptance and therefore surrender to this helplessness comes calm, and so despite this Romantic imagery to communicate helplessness, the slow swell of the waves and white noise in the sound of the storm have a meditative affect on the viewer. The headphones on the spotlighted plinth in the center of the space contain the internal soundscape of the caravan in the storm. The viewer wearing the headphones then projects themselves into the caravan. The physical space of the installation is set to mirror the digital space projected. Not only the composition of the light surrounded by darkness, but it is the people walking around the center of the space, which trigger the sensors that control the strength of the ocean. The person with the headphones is then helpless whilst those around them alter the environment. |