Strata #2

Second piece within the ongoing Strata series, “Strata #2” explores the icons of french gothic imagery and architecture, focusing on the layering of times function and representations.
The video describes an imaginary alteration of architectural matter. By moving through the spaces of “Notre Dame” and “Saint Eustache” a process of metamorphosis is slowly revealed, transforming structure and function of the original churches. De-contextualizing religious stained-glass imagery, this piece plays with history and its image. It challenges the stratified historical meanings detained in the western society through time. Assuming different meanings, the represented stained-glass windows appear under a new perspective that focuses on their images rather than on their historical and architectural significance. In a dynamic dialogue between sound, image and architecture, “Strata #2” gives life to a hybrid dimension where reality and artificiality coexist and interact harmoniously.

Date 2009
Commissioned by Arcadi
Direction/Production: Quayola
Music: Mira Calix + Autobam
Cello: Oliver Coates
Photography: James Medcraft
Animation: Quayola, Labmeta
Coding: Pedro Mari