Hangár, Bakelit Multi Art Center
7th L1 Dance Festival, Budapest, Hungary
Installation, 2008
AIRBORNE (projection-sound-monitor installation) was sited in the Hangár, B.A.C. as part of the 7th L1 Dance Festival in Budapest, Hungary (March 2008). This work continues Johnson's interest in and use of 'found' material (16mm wind tunnel footage), and performative methods (sound recording of Channel 9 on United Airlines). This immersive work explores the turbulence of suspension and sets out to map the interval between take off and landing. Windblown soil and non-diegetic sound create a journey ‘between’, a spatial dislocation. Two distinct views of the momentum of airflow are edited and looped in order to prevent the viewer from experiencing the resolution of settled earth. As with the sound, the image has no beginning or end.
In the Hangár space, a monitor with headphones, and a padded seat sits between the projections. The fluttering material moves forward and backwards akin to a paper airplane that never takes off. The material removed from the pilot recording is now re-inserted – a sound flicker of static noise.
Airborne provided a space for actions and spontaneous responses by the visiting dancers at the Festival. Two undirected dance interventions by renowned artist Márta Ladjánszki took place – one for a live audience and the other for camera. This recorded performance (12 min) has resulted in a short film entitled HANGÁR (July 2008).
