This summer, Yorkshire Sculpture Park are presenting the first major exhibition by South African artist William Kentridge outside of South Africa that focuses on his many works and sculptures. With over 40 pieces, the exhibition is shown in the Underground Gallery as well as the beautiful surrounding gardens of the Park.
ArtAV were privileged to be asked to offer our expertise on design and installation for the three audio visual works being presented. We worked closely with the wonderful in-house team at YSP, as well as Kentridge's studio and Indy Video from the Netherlands, who act as Kentridge’s AV technical team. Two of the works, ‘More Sweetly Play the Dance’, a UK museum premiere, and ‘Oh to Believe in Another World’, are exhibited in one of the Underground Gallery spaces.
The iconic More Sweetly Play the Dance (2015) is an animated work shown here in a 7-screen layout. A caravan of figures in silhouette, including a brass band, animated skeletons, and figures that reference the migration of refugees, concentrating on the West African Ebola outbreak, but with residing themes of immigration so current in today's climate.
Oh To Believe in Another World (2022) explores composer Dmitri Shostakovich’s troubled relationship with Stalin through the lens of his Symphony No.10, which anticipated and could only be released after the despotic leader’s death.
The two works are shown in rotation in an immersive installation across seven large screens. Spanning the entire gallery space, over 20 metres, surrounding viewers with music and movement.
ArtAV’s install team set up the two works across the 7 screens using Epson EB-PU1007B Laser Projectors. ArtAV’s extensive Epson lens suite meant we were able to be flexible with the positioning of the projectors, something that was needed as the dynamic positioning of the screens in the exhibition space evolved with the artist's studio until they were happy. The large screens, some over 5m wide, were made from a unique textured surface and overlapped at several points. The technical team, under instruction from the Artist studio, were discouraged from using any digital manipulation within the projectors to preserve the resolution and quality of the work. This meant the projectors had to be lined up precisely. Euromet’s Arakno mounting system for the projectors enabled the install team to fine-tune each projector until it was pixel-perfect with the screens. The audio element of the work was an unusual setup. With Fohhn AT-08 loudspeakers underneath the screens, there were also 4 sculptural elements with speakers within them that were positioned in the space. The fine-tuning of the audio was performed by the artist's technical team, so ArtAV’s design and build team needed to build a rack and system that was easy to understand and manipulate on site. LEA’s Connect Series amplifiers offered that flexibility and simplicity from their WEBGui for controlling the audio during the daily running of the exhibition.
The two 7-screen works run in rotation throughout the day and are controlled from a bespoke Brightsign set-up. ArtAV’s programmers worked hand in code with Indy Video to take their existing Brightsign programming and streamline it, and include several new features, some requested by YSP to make their daily procedure easier for the non-technical staff.
In one of the other gallery spaces, you will find Kentridge’s presentation of Self Portrait as a Coffee Pot. A wonderful work that began during lockdown and was first shown at the Venice Biennale. A 75” LFD positioned on an Art Easel displays the collection of short documentary films throughout the day. Fohhn speakers were used for the audio; their warmth of sound and consistency across the various models allowed smaller speakers to be used in a more discreet fashion, whilst larger models can be found in the ceiling, hidden away from view but still providing audio reproduction of the highest quality for the audience.
It is a unique setting in the North of England, this exhibition is really worth the visit, and ArtAV look forward to working with YSP on their next ambitious AV exhibition.
