despite our severed connection, (2024)

Two channel video intallation, 8’45” looped

Animation: Alexandros Xenophontos
Storyboard and structure design: Alexandros Xenophotnos, Marina Ashioti, Irini Khenkin
Unsecured CCTV Footage: Marina Ashioti, Irini Khenkin
Sound: Emiddio Vasquez
Lidar Scans : Cloudy Works

Cyprus Pavilion Venice Art Biennale 2024

𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘨𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘍𝘢𝘵𝘢 𝘔𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘢 𝘮𝘪𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘦, 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘵: 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘦𝘨𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘴, 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘵.

A steel sculpture reminiscent of a pylon stands within SOUNDR and serves as a vessel, transmitting a chain of glitches and flickers of light across two channels to reach an unsettled spectre lingering in the periphery. The act of ghosting brings forth a moment of unrequited communication, here narratively reinterpreted as an attempt for communication between a ghost-hunting siren and her late lover.

Particles emerge from a seashell on the shore of the Akrotiri peninsula (a British-controlled military post) and disperse across the ether. They travel through sources of light recorded across a network of unsecured surveillance cameras, and through point clouds of the forest surrounding the island’s highest peak, home to RAF Troodos, the so-called “jewel in the crown of British intelligence”.

The video installation features animation sequences modelled after photographs uploaded on an online archive of military families residing in the “British Sovereign Base Areas” in Cyprus, converging with Light Detection and Ranging (Lidar) point clouds and found surveillance footage, while fragmented utterances intercede electrophonic noise sources, blending with tones of spectrally encoded messages and material simulations.

Documentation by Ugo Carmeni