ParaSCAPE instrumental landscape
ParaSCAPE [1999] is both landscape and sculpture. ParaSCAPE is a sculpture displaying its own behaviour. ParaSCAPE is an intelligent organism. ParaSCAPE is a solid body with a supple skin, as an alien immigrant landed on the monumental stairs of the Strip. ParaSCAPE interferes with the local culture of the Kop van Zuid in Rotterdam, it absorbs multicultural sounds from the environment – the mosque and other street sounds – and converts the samples into a new language. When a passenger strolls along paraSCAPE one activates the language paraSCAPE speaks: paraSCAPE will start to mumble in real time, but never will paraSCAPE repeat itself. The program of ParaSCAPE will always compile fresh conversions from the sound samples, and always refreshing its samples. When the passenger has left the site, the speech will slowly fade out. ParaSCAPE transforms the large lawn in the Strip into a fluid field of tension. The lamps which are individually dimmable radiate white light, in the evening a gentle wave propagates over the lawn. The program which controls the dynamic behaviour of the lights is activated by a sensitive spot on top of paraSCAPE. ParaSCAPE is an instrument to be played by the public can play.
Design team: Ilona Lénárd, Kas Oosterhuis, Richard Tolenaar [composer]| Ccmmissioned by the Centrum Beeldende Kunst [CBK] in Rotterdam | 1999 [not executed]