Sottofondo
2021
projection of moving image and iPhone recording
dimensions variable
loop
Etymologically rooted in the Italian sotto (under) and fondo (ground), Sottofondo is born as both a site- and time- responsive piece consisting of two immaterial components. The image shows a real place – Schloss Leopoldskron in Salzburg – and coheres with Austria’s more stereotypical image as picturesque and imperial. As is not uncommon in Austria, however, grand and quaint aesthetics frequently come with a bitter aftertaste once an object’s or site’s full history comes to light. One such example is the Rococo castle Leopoldskron. Prior to its confiscation during National Socialism, it used to be home to Max Reinhardt, whose extraordinary vision had shaped the Salzburger Festspiele and largely impacted its enduring success until today. Dying in exile in New York in 1943, Reinhardt never saw his home’s restitution, nor did he witness its transformation into a hotel. Visually, Sottofondo is thus a nod to the disturbing intricacies a location can be tainted by. Created specifically during the festival’s current 100th anniversary edition, it investigates how perceptions of a place and event are prone to change over time. Flipped vertically, the projection causes irritation and disorientation for it makes the world we view at eye-level – above ground, that is – appear blurry. The image’s simple inversion draws attention to the distorting qualities of water’s ripple effects. Translated from the site- and space- specific context, it explores questions about historical information threatened by amnesia as time progresses. Offering to frame a century of socio-cultural peaks and pitfalls for the eye, Sottofondo further attempts to conflate time acoustically. While watching Schloss Leopoldskron mirrored in water, the beholder hears intimate recordings of unreciprocated phone calls. Contrary to implications of hidden histories underground, these calls, uttered in different languages and marked by silences ‘from the other end’, leave space for every individual listener’s imagination.
Collective conscience and information stored individually counterbalance each other; spatial history contemplates a personal story.