»Sauna01-02« 
Light Box
Light Box
© Chris Salter, Topological Media Lab
Keywords
Information
Christopher Salter >
»Sauna01-02«, 2000 - 2007
Co-Workers & Funding:
Concept: SpongeProject Development and Construction: Chris Salter, Laura Farabough
Audio-Visual Material: Chris Salter, Sam Auinger/Rachel De Boer, Maja Kuzmanovic
http://www.chrissalter.com/projects.php#Sauna01_1
Technology
Display
audio-visual programInstallation Requirements / Space
10 x 14' enclosed room with a 4 x8 tank-a half cylinderSauna tube with rear screen projection material
headphones
Material
three 4 x 25' cylindershigh power, DMX-controlled strobe lights
Sound
parabolic loudspeakers
Descriptions & Essays
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.
Literature
Salter, Chris and Cognition. »Sponge: A Case Study in Practice-based, Collaborative Research.« In Proceedings for the 4th Annual ACM Conference in Creativity and Cognition, Goldsmiths College, London, edited by Proceedings for the 4th Annual ACM conference in Creativity, 92-101. London, UK: 2005.
Exhibitions & Events