Sauna01-02

Source: Chris Salter, Topological Media Lab

Christopher Salter

Sauna01-02 ,
Co-workers & Funding
Concept: Sponge
Project Development and Construction: Chris Salter, Laura Farabough
Audio-Visual Material: Chris Salter, Sam Auinger/Rachel De Boer, Maja Kuzmanovic
Documents
  • Sauna02 Video
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  • Sauna02 installation view
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  • Sauna02 installation view
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  • Sauna02 installation view
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  • Salter Chris
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  • Salter Chris
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  • Salter Chris
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  • Salter Chris
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Description
Sauna_01 #1, realized at the San Francisco Electronic Music Festival 2000, consists of a 10 x 14' enclosed room within which is positioned a 4 x 8' tank-a half cylinder resembling what Sponge termed a "cargo cult MRI chamber." The Sauna tube is constructed out of a large sheet of bowed polycarbonate which is covered by a rear screen projection material. The rear screen makes it possible to see the projected images in wraparound from above while inside the tube.

The prototype Sauna accommodates one person at a time. Each visitor lays down on a gurney and is fitted with a pair of headphones. Once comfortable, the participant is rolled into the tube and immersed in an audio-visual program lasting approximately 5 minutes. The images range from those of intense acceleration or slowness: extreme motion through darkness, water, snow, REM-like flashes, slow mutations of solar and lunar eclipse, stuttering sweeps of light. The imagery is shaped by the architecture of the tube, transformed into a depthless field by the curved edges of the plastic space.
Keywords
  • aesthetics
    • installation-based
    • uncanny
  • genres
    • installations
      • interactive installations
    • performance art
      • multimedia performances
  • subjects
    • Arts and Visual Culture
      • expanded cinema
      • theater
    • Body and Psychology
      • senses
Technology & Material
Display
audio-visual program
Installation Requirements / Space
10 x 14' enclosed room with a 4 x8 tank-a half cylinder
Sauna tube with rear screen projection material
headphones
Material
three 4 x 25' cylinders
high power, DMX-controlled strobe lights
Sound
parabolic loudspeakers
Bibliography