PAN (2011) Multi-Media Installation
“The acceleration of the surrounding world of signs, symbols and info-stimulation is producing panic… Depression is the deactivation of desire after panicked acceleration. When you are no longer able to understand the flow of information stimulating your brain, you tend to desert the field of communication, disabling any intellectual and psychological response.” From ‘The Soul at Work from alienation to autonomy’ (2009) Franco “Bifo” Berardi p. 214
“Every technology contrived and outered by man has the power to numb human awareness during the period of it’s first interiorization.” From ‘the Gutenbery galaxy’ (1962) Marshall McLuhan p. 153
PAN (2011) Installation from Katriona Beales on Vimeo.‘PAN’ (after the etymology of the word ‘panic’ from the Greek god) was inspired by Berardi's notion of panic and depression as socio-pathological responses to information excess. Inside a purpose-built diamond-shaped room, hundreds of wires and telecommunications cables were suspended from the ceiling creating a dense mass above the viewer’s head. At the far side of the room, an old office chair sat in front of handmade triangular wooden desk covered in shiny black plastic. USB powered LED fans spun round the sides flashing brightly coloured light cycles, at the same time as a jarring soundtrack heightened the claustrophobia of the room. In the centre of the desk was a raised platform with a laptop playing a video of tens of smaller pop-window videos of documentary footage and performative actions. Artist Steve Klee writes, “the central video is sophisticated, having a Russian doll structure… a nightmarish excess of information is suggested”.
Video short from 'PAN' installation from Katriona Beales on Vimeo.To give you a better idea of the central video in the heart of the 'PAN' installation I have edited a short version of it. Filmed in HD from my laptop screen, the video consists of tens of documentary videos shot in the UK and Austria, many scenes from everyday life, alongside more extraordinary ones such as the March for the Alternative in March 2011. These are intermingled with documentation of various performances - the sequinned balaclava and fountain. The computer struggles with the amount of information it is expected to process - the audio and visuals begin to stutter and start as more and more videos are played. This creates a very disruptive and chaotic viewing experience.
