The Andean Pavilion
- The Andean Pavilion
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The Andean Pavilion / Someday somehow, A/P. (© Paul Rosero Contreras / Dos Islas Studio. Photo: Leonardo Arrata.)
The Andean Pavilion (2015/2017) is a video installation composed of a series of fictional videos and 3D-printed sculptures, which are the material outcome of the seismic activity in four active volcanoes in the highlands of Ecuador and the Galápagos Islands. This project is part of an experimental inquiry speculating on the possibility of emergent relations between the environment, humans, and technology in settings that are heavily defined by natural phenomena.
By means of vibration sensors, volcanic activity was recorded with sound devices and converted into computational 3D models using custom software. The result is a series of hybrid objects created at the intersection of different worlds: geologically inspired artifacts that not only complicate the relations between life and matter, but also expand the notion of in-situ intervention and translation of natural forces into physical matter.
In the Andean highlands of Ecuador, three active volcanoes have been registered: the Cotopaxi, during its first eruption after 138 years of inactivity; the Tungurahua, which has been continually ejecting ash for 17 years; and the Cayambe, recently active after 230 dormant years. In the Galápagos Islands, the Sierra Negra volcano on Isabela Island was recorded at the site of a fumarolic sulfur mine. The Andean Pavilion is, therefore, the reenactment of a momentary encounter between a volcano, a human, and a machine—an encounter that seeks to open up [End Page 422] possibilities of interaction and understanding of our surroundings by exposing situations where the human-environmental dynamics are constantly redefined.
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The Andean Pavilion, Stornato version I / Someday somehow, A/P, 2015. (© Paul Rosero Contreras / Dos Islas Studio)
Supplementary Material
The Andean Pavilion: Habitat (Tungurahua) click here.
Details, graphics, pictures and further documentation on the second expedition of Paul Rosero Contreras’s crew to the active volcano Tungurahua. © Paul Rosero Contreras / Dos Islas Studio
The Andean Pavilion: A volcanic journey click here.
Details, graphics, pictures and further documentation on Paul Rosero Contreras’s project. © Paul Rosero Contreras / Dos Islas Studio
http://paulrosero.com/
Paul Rosero Contreras works in the interstice between scientific data, speculative realism, and fictional narratives. His body of work explores topics related to geopolitics, environmental issues, and the relationship between humans and their living surroundings. Rosero received a Master's degree in Cognitive Systems and Interactive Media from Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona, as well as an MFA in Art and Technology from the California Institute of the Arts. His crossdisciplinary interests include photography, experimental sound, post-humanist philosophy, and A/V performance. His work has been displayed at the Moscow Biennale for Young Art; the Musée du quai Branly, Paris; the Instituto Cervantes, Rome; the Museo Centro de Historia, Zaragoza, Spain; the Cuenca Biennial, Ecuador; the first Antarctic Biennale, the Antarctic Pavilion at the 57th Venice Biennale; and at Import Projects, Berlin, among other venues.
Acknowledgment
This project was developed with the support of Ecuador's Nuevo Mariano Aguilera award and the sponsorship of Voxeljet. [End Page 423]
