Drone Consultation as Transverberation, 2019
Installation with aluminium, steel, ceramic, thermo cover PVC, carpet, sound
Dimension variable
with support from: Ursula Vogel (ceramic), Lino Muff (Roundtable), Angi Nend (audio technique)
Kiefer Hablitzel 2019, Swiss Art Awards Ausstellung, ArtBasel, Basel Schweiz, 2019
link to audio
The work «Drone Consultation as Transverberation», which the artist developed for the Kiefer Hablitzel Prize at the Swiss Art Awards exhibition, deals with repetitive cycles that are disrupted by external influences. The sound installation shows a small roundtable, symbolic of a political roundtable where new negotiations have to be held, with different actors than before. The ceramic figures scattered on it are reminiscent of barnacles, which provide scientists with knowledge about the millennia-old routes of humpback whales. These small parasites stand for the fact that silent knowledge is bypassed when, for example, underwater oil wells or ship propellers break these cycles.
The artist deals with these underwater sounds, lets them come out of the mouths of the figures in polyphonic voices and makes the roundtable vibrate. But we also hear human voices asking questions like how it can go on or protesting and singing Waorani women who prevented oil drilling on their land. Vanessà Heer's rhythmization of harmonic and disharmonic interactions creates a mindful space where unheard stories and voices are enhanced and heard. She invites the audience into the transverberation with an immersive blue light mood.