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SARKIS'S 'BALLADS' ECHO AT ROTTERDAM'S SUBMARINE WHARF
Today's Zaman
http://www.todayszaman.com/news-288338-sarkiss-ballads-echo-at-rotterdams-submarine-wharf.html
Aug 1 2012
Turkey
The Submarine Wharf at Rotterdam's world-famous docklands is currently
home to a gigantic installation by Turkish-Armenian contemporary artist
Sarkis in what makes up one of the key events in an ongoing series
of cultural events celebrating the 400th anniversary of diplomatic
ties between Turkey and the Netherlands.
Called "Ballads," Sarkis's installation is made up of a set of
monumental sculptures over 16 meters tall and a carillon, also
incorporating light, video and music by American composer John Cage.
Cage's "Litany for the Whale" forms a permanent backdrop to the
installation, spread over almost 5,000 square meters on the campus.
The carillon continuously plays "Litany for the Whale" and takes the
visitor on a journey into the realm where submarines and whales meet.
The pendant to the monumental bell tower is a 16-meter-tall lampshade
covered with white down feathers. Accompanying them in "The Futuro,"
are Sarkis's videos about water. The wharf's original function and
the surrounding water are central to the installation, which unites
the building's past and present through monumental objects, music and
colored films on its windows that filter the daylight like a modern
variant of stained glass.
Inspired by the church interiors of 17th-century Dutch painter
Pieter Saenredam, Sarkis transformed the wharf into a "sacred meeting
place," said the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, the Rotterdam-based
commissioners of the work. The format of the space, the special
lighting and the sound of the carillon with 43 bells create a
hallowed atmosphere for the installation, evoking the form of the
submarines once built at the wharf. The combination makes up a "poetic
installation," as the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen puts it. All the
elements in Sarkis's work support the musical narrative, in which
the visitor plays a leading role, the museum says on its website,
www.boijmans.nl.
Born Sarkis Zabunyan in İstanbul in 1938, the Paris-based artist
is known for his unique combination of the atmosphere of Oriental
mysticism with Western conceptual art. "Ballads" runs until Sept. 30
at the Submarine Wharf.
Today's Zaman
http://www.todayszaman.com/news-288338-sarkiss-ballads-echo-at-rotterdams-submarine-wharf.html
Aug 1 2012
Turkey
The Submarine Wharf at Rotterdam's world-famous docklands is currently
home to a gigantic installation by Turkish-Armenian contemporary artist
Sarkis in what makes up one of the key events in an ongoing series
of cultural events celebrating the 400th anniversary of diplomatic
ties between Turkey and the Netherlands.
Called "Ballads," Sarkis's installation is made up of a set of
monumental sculptures over 16 meters tall and a carillon, also
incorporating light, video and music by American composer John Cage.
Cage's "Litany for the Whale" forms a permanent backdrop to the
installation, spread over almost 5,000 square meters on the campus.
The carillon continuously plays "Litany for the Whale" and takes the
visitor on a journey into the realm where submarines and whales meet.
The pendant to the monumental bell tower is a 16-meter-tall lampshade
covered with white down feathers. Accompanying them in "The Futuro,"
are Sarkis's videos about water. The wharf's original function and
the surrounding water are central to the installation, which unites
the building's past and present through monumental objects, music and
colored films on its windows that filter the daylight like a modern
variant of stained glass.
Inspired by the church interiors of 17th-century Dutch painter
Pieter Saenredam, Sarkis transformed the wharf into a "sacred meeting
place," said the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, the Rotterdam-based
commissioners of the work. The format of the space, the special
lighting and the sound of the carillon with 43 bells create a
hallowed atmosphere for the installation, evoking the form of the
submarines once built at the wharf. The combination makes up a "poetic
installation," as the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen puts it. All the
elements in Sarkis's work support the musical narrative, in which
the visitor plays a leading role, the museum says on its website,
www.boijmans.nl.
Born Sarkis Zabunyan in İstanbul in 1938, the Paris-based artist
is known for his unique combination of the atmosphere of Oriental
mysticism with Western conceptual art. "Ballads" runs until Sept. 30
at the Submarine Wharf.