Solar Flux Recordings (2022) was shot in the eponymous site-specific installation at the Palacio de Cristal of the Reina Sofia Museum in Madrid which combined architecture and landscape in a performative piece activated and conducted by the sun. Under the crystal palace’s sweeping ceiling nine sculptural groups of colored glass panels were displayed, condensing the airy space, each of them composed of elements taken from the architectural vocabulary of the Palacio. Each group referred to a specific position of the sun which was reached only once during the exhibition period: represented by the specific orientation of the inclined glass panels and designated by a metal plaque on the floor, the sculptures became recordings of this performative event.
The film makes the performance visible by means of editing, fragmentation and time-lapse. Our gaze is directed by a floating camera whose spheric movements capture the sculptural installation, its shadows reflected on the pavement, projected and animated by the sun. Accompanied by field recordings of the environment outside—birdsong, various ambient noises and gently vibrating sounds, the eleven-minute film created an atmospheric portrait. While the pace remains relaxed, spatial reflections blur the boundaries between inside and outside. The glistening surface of a puddle on the concrete floor becomes a delicately shivering mirror into the cloudy sky, emphasizing the indirect, mediated nature of filmic projection. This doubling is emblematic for Solar Flux Recordings – an intimate record of the original installation and its site-specific elements of staging, the sun its projector, drawing attention to the performative nature of the environment and its technologies. In keeping with its conception, the film is projected through glass filters modelled on those in the Palacio de Cristal, which refract the film as they are projected.
Solar Flux Recordings, 2022
Steel table, color glass plates, 35 mm film, projector, looper
Duration: 11 min
130 x 100 x 55 cm (sculpture)
Photo: Andrea Rossetti © Rosa Barba
Solar Flux Recordings, 2022 has been on display at the following locations:
Esther Schipper, Berlin, 2022