Songlines (trailer) – TRT 13:40
This is a new, independent and amplified version of the video “Walkabout”, which was part of the installation “Under the Same Roof” – see vimeo.com/280045766
In the culture of Aboriginal Australians, the long walks in the desert of individuals who undertake the Walkabout* (as mentioned by Bruce Chatwin in “The Songlines”, 1987) play an essential role in allowing contact and exchanges of resources (both material and spiritual) between populations separated by enormous distances. In my work, I let myself be guided by the idea of the Aboriginal Australians to see a “territory” not as a determined piece of land, but as a dynamic network of paths, tracks, and songs – so well described by Chatwin.
In my video, this network is represented by a web of ropes on an underlying, slowly moving landscape. In four central spaces between the cords, areas of sand take form, in which different things happen: one hand digs a bone from the sand while another hand buries leaf, one pulls out a folded piece of paper, opens it and reads the word “life” which turns into other languages, one hand throws a stone from one panel to the other, new life is born out of things—in short, it is a game of transformation and exchange of objects and words between the different areas. After a while everything is flooded by the sea water. The rope structure loses its geometrical form and the sand dissolves. When the flood retreats, a new network is generated and other scenes arise out of the sand.
* “Walkabout” has come to be referred to as “temporary mobility” because its original name has sometimes been used as an inappropriate term in Australian culture, ignoring its spiritual significance.
MARIA KORPORAL was born 1962 in Sliedrecht, the Netherlands. She studied graphics and painting at the St. Joost Academy of Fine Arts in Breda. During her studies she began working with photography and she graduated with, among other things, a video installation. After her studies, in 1986, she moved to Italy, where she returned to painting. In 1989 she co-founded the Italian publishing house Apeiron, directing the production and book design. In this environment she became involved with the use of computers, and she began applying digital techniques also in her art work. Since 1998 she has dedicated herself to using the new media arts for her expression.
Until 2013 she lived in Sant’Oreste (Rome) in Italy. Since 2014 she has lived and worked in Berlin. Maria Korporal’s artistic production includes video art, interactive projects, installations. Her multimedia work has been designed using a wide variety of techniques. The narrative aspect, both personal and social, plays a major role in her work and, together with the directness of the images and the sounds, leads to a great participation of the viewer. Her interactive installations in particular invite the viewer to participate. In her work she plays with virtuality and reality, with undergone and artificially generated experiences. Most of her projects deal with social and environmental issues. Her works were often awarded and selected in many festivals and exhibitions around the world.
17 Days Video Series 