SERRA MADRE
BOLOGNA
2024
The ocean is the lung of our planet.
It exhales the breath we all share as mammals, weaving together flows, currents and atmosphere. Beneath its surface is kept the secret of life on earth: ancient songs of whales, upwelling of phytoplankton and whispers of tides circulating half of oxygen on earth.
In this moment of urgency, with warming waters impacting global circulation and sea mammal survival, Destination Earth, a novel interactive performance led by artist and dancer Salome Bazin, invites us to pause and listen back to the deep and ancient pulse of the sea.
Forged at the intersection of art, science and technology, Destination Earth rises in a 4 m. digital monolith, immersive soundscape and performance. From satellite data powered by Leonardo supercomputer, to real-time generative music and motion tracking capturing visitors movements, the artwork plunges the audience into an immersive embodied experience of flow.
The artwork dives into two important currents, the Antarctic Circumpolar current: the very heartbeat of our planet and the Grand Banks, where the Labrador Current from the cold Arctic meets the Gulf Stream from the equator. Here, where life converges and the earth breathes, we are invited to witness the fragile dance of currents, hearing the music of the sea as it moves through the seasons.
Participants are invited to experience through their bodies the correlation between our human rhythm of movement and the ocean flows, invited by performers to play with the speed of their motion. Each step visitors take in the space, every movement of their bodies, has an impact on the ocean portal: rising tension or soothing currents, giving life to a melody unique to each performance. Our movements, when fast and relentless, mirror the fever of the earth.
The ocean, like our bodies, needs time to heal. And so, as the performance reaches an end, we slow our steps, breathing in harmony with the waves, giving the ocean the time it needs to recover its natural cycle.
In this collaboration of art, science and performance, artist and movement director Salomé Bazin, generative composer Rob M Thomas, creative technologist Sebastiano Barbieri, have woven together the data of the sea, the power of technology and the poetry of human experience. They have given us a way to see, to hear, to feel the ocean’s life as it moves through us, giving hope to the potential of symbiotic living with the earth.
For the South Pacific version, Salome Bazin worked in collaboration with James Renwick (VUW) and researchers from the Antarctic Science Platform, with live embodiment from Atamira Dance Company, a leading Maori dance company and presentation from the Grid Art Space.
For the North Pacific version the team worked in collaboration with oceanographers Stefano Salon (OGS) and Emmanuela Clementi (CMCC) using datasets from the Copernicus Marine Data Service, powered by groundbreaking scientific research into simulation of oceanic flows and sonic propagation.
A production by Cellule Studio.
Salome Bazin: Art and movement direction
Rob M Thomas: Composer
Sebastiano Barbieri: Creative technologist
North Hemisphere Production
Silvano Imboden: Dataset technician
Kilowatt: Curator and producer
Serra madre: Venue
Stefano Salon: Scientific Adviser OGS
Alice Affatati, Chiara Scaini: Scientific Adviser OGS sound
Emanuela Clementi: Scientific Adviser CMCC wave/current
CINECA: Computing partner
Performers: Valentina Siciliano, Emanuel Kaeser, Greta Colonna, Nicolo Moscato.
Supported by STARTS, IFab, Cineca, Emil Banca.
South Hemisphere Production
The Grid Art Space: Presenter and technical production
Atamira Dance Company: Live activation collaborator
Performers/ Movement artist: Olivia McGregor, Jeremy Beck, and Matiu Hamuera.
James Renwick: Lead scientific partner VUW
Tanika Tangaroa Foyer: Venue
Antarctic Science Platform: Scientific partner and sponsor
Supported by British Council, British High Commissioner, Antarctic Science Platform.
