After watching Janet Cardiff’s Ghost Machine in class yesterday, I thought I’d post about an installation which I saw at The Collection last year. Although it wasn’t a video tour, it did incorporate elements of an audio walk. Metro-Boulot-Dodo’s Four Seasons appeared at both The Collection and Drill Hall in the autumn of 2011, as part of the Frequency Digital Culture Festival (21st -29th October). Spring and summer were displayed at The Collection, whilst autumn and winter appeared at the Drill Hall.
“Four Seasons is a hugely ambitious four-part multi-media installation that looks to the seasons to reflect different stages of life.” (Ashberry, J and Stawson, K, 2011)
Four Seasons documents the life of a girl called Polly from the age of eight up to eighty. Each season is set out to represent a new stage in her life. As we explore the different seasons, our gaze is controlled by the constructed signs leading to secret passageways and voice played through the headphones supplied. Each season incorporates different elements of multimedia in order to give the audience the most authentic experience. For example, spring represents childhood, and therefore is the most interactive of the four. Summer shows Polly’s new found adolescence through a series of short stories written along the walls of her bedroom, accompanied by a set of headphones instructing the listener on what must happen next. The latter seasons incorporate much more audio; you are instructed to sit in front of the autumn installation whilst a voiceover of Polly plays, during which we hear her make an array of life changing decisions. Winter differs from autumn as we are supplied with headphones; this enables us to hear a description of how Polly came to lose her life, overlapped with the repetition of a classical score.
“People think the visual arts don’t do stories as much, but they can, and there’s no reason why they shouldn’t.” (Beaumont, N, 2011). Four Seasons is a great example of how combining “interactive technology and sound installations” (Leary, E, 2011) can not only be visually pleasing, but can also tell a story. In my opinion, Metro-Boulot-Dodo have created a really inspirational piece of art, which is a brilliant example of how diverse sites such as The Collection are. This also shows the adaptability of certain sites and how they can accommodate a range of work, from historical exhibitions to contemporary installations.
Metro-Boulot-Dodo’s more recent projects, such as Call Me – When You Get There use a combination of volunteers, mobile phones and the creation of a virtual city. Again, this is reasonably similar to a company which we’ve seen previously, Blast Theory. Blast Theory’s Can You See Me Now? incorporates the same aspects into their work. Here’s the link to Metro-Boulot-Dodo’s website: http://www.metro-boulot-dodo.com/, I would definitely recommend a glance or two at their work!
Author: Chloe Doherty
Work Cited:
– Ashberry, J and Stawson, K (2011) Four Seasons in Lincoln Signals a World First, Online: http://www.cisionwire.com/shooting-star-pr/r/four-seasons-in-lincoln-signals-a-world-first,c9169097 (accessed 23 January 2012)
– Beaumont, N (2011) Four seasons come alive in Lincoln with art, Online: http://thelincolnite.co.uk/2011/10/four-seasons-come-alive-in-lincoln-with-art/ (accessed 23 January 2012)
– Leary, E (2011) A surreal experience for kids: Four Seasons at The Collection, Online: http://www.amummytoo.co.uk/2011/11/a-surreal-experience-for-kids-metro-boulot-dodos-four-seasons-at-the-collection/ (accessed 23 January 2012)
