Prototype Installation view
The State of L3 A Project by Antonio Jose Guzman
Pan African Contemporary Arts & Film Collective I run on the road, long before I dance under the lights. Muhammad Ali
Delicatessen Atelier Space Amsterdam, The Netherlands January 2010 2 Multi channel DVD Projection Multiplex, wood, PVC pipes & suitcases Boat and Balloons 5,5 x 2,75 x 1,4 m 60 photographs 20 x 30 cm Installation Dimensions and forms will change according to Transatlantic exchange and country remix of images.
The State of L3 it is an installation on Pan African motivation, multimedia networks, as well as the urge to create a Pan African Collective of Contemporary Arts and Films. The State of L3 refers to exile identity and the creative process of three artists working together with eighteen young artists and university students. The project wants to bring together their thoughts, ideas, experiences, dialogues and the virtual exchange in the L3 virtual database. State of L3 explores the installation as a medium for a documentary on transatlantic networks and the artists reflections on the Black Atlantic African world, the symbiosis that exist as people of African descent and their position in the contemporary society as well as the historic perspective and the colonial past of the countries of origin of the artists. It is an artistic exploration of time and space in relation to society. The installation is a visualization of migration and Diaspora. Each suitcase represents migration; each balloon represents the transatlantic unity. The State of L3 is a documentation of the contemporary black Atlantic world based on videos, filmed portraits and photography. In the Installation the scenes in the photographs as well as in the moving images build on imagery from poetic urban landscapes and ambient soundscapes of African origins in the three continents.
The State of L3 videos are each one 15 m video pieces with the work of the eighteen participants and documentation photographs from the process of making the project. The project poses questions concerning daily life, strategies of survival and presents thoughts on the new African identity as well as possibilities and ideas for cooperation within the new Pan African World. Appearing in the State of L3 installation videos: All members of the Collective in Brazil, The Netherlands and Senegal Grants: The Netherlands Foundation for Visual Arts, Design and Architecture Prince Claus Fund for Culture and Development Mondriaan Foundation VSB Fonds To be exhibited in 2010 at: Dakar Biennale, Senegal Gallery 23 Amsterdam, The Netherlands MHKA Museum of Contemporary Art of Antwerp, Belgium SANNA Gallery Utrecht, The Netherlands State of L3 Collective Artists in Residence Casco Projects June 2010
Technical brief: State of L3 suitcases Boat and balloons: 5,5 x 2,75 x 1,4 m Variable Dimensions The State of L3, Installation Loop dual projection with sound: format HDV 16:9 (b/w), screening Dual HDV projection from server, three projectors, thee variable dimensions screens and loudspeakers. Language: Wolof, French, English, Dutch, Portuguese (subtitles in English). Duration: 15 m Conversations and Sounds (English) One monitor HDV 16:9 (b/w), hard drive media player, three headphones. Runtime: 30 m Process photographs: 60 fiber prints without frames, 27 x 47 cm, 90 x 72 cm Variable dimensions.