Description

The work is a video and sound installation. A visitor’s presence sets off an image turbine placed at the centre of a tower, hidden by the darkness of the room. The turbine’s spinning mirrored box reflects images and strobe pulses onto the surrounding walls. Two video projectors point directly into the mirrored box creating fragments of images projected at rapid speeds in variable sequences. The image projections move horizontally on a curved wall, at times intersecting and overlapping. The sound effects (muffled incantations and broken monologues) overcome the noise of the centrifugal activity of the motor and the ventilation.

Motion detector

The installation uses several devices activated by a motion detector facing a tower (wood and aluminum structure), which sends a signal to a control box when motion is detected nearby.

Tower

A wood and aluminum structure at the center of the installation, barely visible to the visitor, holds two modified projectors with strobe lights, a turbine engine with mirrors, a laptop computer and a time code reader. An incandescent lamp installed behind the tower allows visitors to see it before the work is activated.

Operation

The computer containing the artist’s code (program) sends commands to the control box signalling the speed of the image turbine and the sequencing of the video projections, strobe lights and the sound.

The control box contains several small microprocessors that are used to start Dervish and control the brightness of the incandescent lamp that illuminates the tower, the strobe lights built into the modified projectors and the rotating action of the image turbine.

Two laserdisc players contain a copy of the same video but play a different sequence. The synchronizer defines the playback parameters of each player (starting images, choice of soundtrack, etc.), which makes it seem like the images are projected randomly.

Image Turbine

The motor of the image turbine revs from 0 to 900 RPM in a short lapse of time. This occurs several times during Dervish’s projection which lasts approximately five minutes.

Two modified video projectors point directly into the mirrored box creating fragments of images projected at rapid speeds in variable sequences. The image projections move horizontally on a curved wall, at times intersecting and overlapping. The turbine’s spinning mirrored box reflects images and strobe pulses onto a semi-circular wall, built specifically for this installation.

The work is set up under the supervision of the Gary Hill Studio.

1- Position and install the tower (wood and aluminum structure).

2- Build a semi-circular wall: install the sills and studs, put up the gypsum, fasten the furring and put up the centering.

3- Install the speakers.

4- Install the motion detector on the wall of the room near the entrance, facing the tower.

5- Grease the bearings. Fasten the motor and the rotating mirror box to an aluminum triangular structure that must be built into the tower, between the posts. Install the tower’s other components: video projectors, time code reader, laptop computer.

6- Install the incandescent lamp behind the tower.

7- In the control room, install the laserdisc players, the graphic equalizer and the synchronizer.

8- Adjust the projectors.

9- Adjust the shaft encoder when installation is finished and the work is operational.