Climbing Mt Ishizuchi in the Autumn

Sunset on Mt Ishzuchi, Oct 4th, 2018. (Photo copyright Meigh-Andrews)

On October 4th I climbed the series of four chain routes to reach the summit of Mt Ishizuchi in Ehime Prefecture, Japan recording the sounds and images of my ascent with a 360 degree video camera. The panoramic images and sounds of the mountain landscape I have recorded will be used to develop an immersive video and sound installation which reflects my fascination with the cross-fertilization of Eastern and Western aesthetic sensibilities, both for the landscape and its tradition in art and for the intersections between nature and technology, which has been a major theme in my work for many years. The completed installation will premiere during March 2019 as part of my forthcoming solo show “The Sky is For All” at the Ruskin Gallery in Cambridge.

Crowd funding for new installation project

A section of the climbing route on Mt Ishizuchi, Japan.
Photo by Athena Lam

Climbing Mt. Ishizuchi, a Sacred Mountain and the highest peak in Western Japan

I am currently developing a new installation project which will involve making a high-definition panoramic video recording of my ascent to the shrine at the top of Mt Ishizuchi, one of Japan’s Seven Holy Mountains. It will take approximately 3-4 hours to climb up the perpendicular rock face making use of a trail of heavy iron chains.

Part of the route showing climbing chains
Photo by Athena Lam

I will be recording my climb with a Garmin VRIB 360 camera which has two ultra-wide angle lenses to capture a complete sphere of high-resolution video and audio of the entire surrounding view. The panoramic images and sounds of the mountain landscape recorded during the autumn season will be used to develop an immersive video and sound installation which seeks to reflect my fascination with the cross-fertilization of Eastern and Western aesthetic sensibilities, both for the landscape and its tradition in art and for the intersections between nature and technology, which have been major themes in my work for many years. The UK version will be exhibited in my solo show The Sky is For All at the Ruskin Gallery in the Cambridge School of Art in March, 2019.

The project will be mainly self-funded, but I am also seeking support via crowdfunding.

Link for further information on this project

Current Project: “Impossible Object No. 4 (Flying Lampadario)”

My most recent installation/sculpture is now completed. Here are some test images taken today in the Benham Project Space.

Impossible Object No. 4 (Flying Lampadario)”, 2018.

Detail: “Impossible Object No. 4 (Flying Lampadario)”, 2018.

Detail “Impossible Object No. 4 (Flying Lampadario), 2018

“Impossible Object No. 4 (Flying Lampadario)”, 2018.

“Émergence de l’art vidéo en Europe”, ECAL, Lausanne, Dec. 2017.

Robert Cahen, L’invitation au voyage, 1973, vidéo couleur /sonore, 9mn

I will be participating in “Émergence de l’art vidéo en Europe: historiographie, théorie, sources et archives (1960-1980)” at l’ecole cantonale d’lart (ECAL) in Lausanne on Dec 11th-12th, following my presentation during the initial seminar at the Biblotheque Nationale, Paris in May last year.

Lundi 11 et mardi 12 décembre 2017
École cantonale d’art de Lausanne
salle Kiarostiami et auditoire IKEA
Séminaire-atelier de recherche 2
et Passé Composé : Robert Cahen, pionnier de l’art vidéo,
Entretien avec Fleur Chevalier

Ce deuxième séminaire de recherche « Émergence de l’art vidéo en Europe : historiographie, théorie, sources et archives (1960-1980) » du LabEx Arts-H2H réunit les chercheurs du projet, ainsi que des spécialistes internationaux, en vue de préciser les premiers temps de l’art vidéo à l’échelle européenne. Ce sera également l’occasion de revenir sur la situation de la vidéo en France, lors d’une conférence publique entre le ciné-vidéaste et compositeur Robert Cahen et la chercheuse Fleur Chevalier.

Porteurs du programme « Émergence de l’art vidéo » :
François Bovier (École cantonale d’art de Lausanne / Maître d’enseignement et de recherche, Université de Lausanne)
Alain Carou (Conservateur, Département de l’audiovisuel, Service Image, Bibliothèque nationale de France)
Larisa Dryansky (Maître de conférences, Université Paris-Sorbonne)
Grégoire Quenault (Maître de conférences, Université Paris 8 Vincennes-Saint-Denis)
Assistés de :
Ségolène Liautaud (Ingénieure d’études, LabEx Arts-H2H)
Collaborateurs invités :
Barbara Borčić (Directrice, SCCA-Ljubljana, Centre d’art contemporain)
Laura Leuzzi (Chercheuse associée, Université de Dundee)
Chris Meigh-Andrews (Professeur émérite, Université du Lancashire central)

Carbon Meets Silicon ’17 – Symposium and Exhibition
Tues 10:00 · Wrexham Glyndŵr University · Wrexham

The gallery version of “In Darwin’s Garden”, an augmented reality installation produced in collaboration with Dr Alan Summers and Rowan Blaik, will be installed at Oriel Sycharth Gallery, Wrexham for “Carbon Meets Silicon”.
See also: http://www.3dpixels.co.uk/darwinsgarden/