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The Parrot & the Nightingale, a Phantasmagoria, 2014
Installation. HD-projection (16:10) of 81 digital black-and-white images,
2 projection screens, 2 HD-projectors, silent,
Duration: v34', on loop
3 LED-displays on tripods, media players, 3 loudspeakers on tripods, sound, audio in English
Duration: 59', in random loop
This work is based on Christopher Columbus’s diary from his first voyage to the Americas in 1492. We don’t know exactly what he wrote, because the diary exists only through copies—most notably a transcription made by Bartolomé de las Casas, written almost 40 years after Columbus’s first journey.
In this installation we experience how this specific part of History has been built. A female interpreter translates passages of an English translation of the originally Spanish diary into American Sign Language (ASL). Then, three male interpreters, mastering each a different sign language, take turns in translating the story from ASL to spoken English, three times differently, and each time partially incorrect.
As a part of the installation, we also see large black and white projections of tropical nature. The lack of colour makes the scenery feel remote and strange. The human experience and the oppression that forms part of this history are disconnected from the language and the landscapes that are the main motifs in the work. But despite this impassive exterior, the violence of history materializes slowly, as the viewer envisions what is left out of the tranquil scenery.
