Force of Gravity at the Festival of Pollenca
An art installation made especially for the Festival of Pollenca
The 54th Festival of Pollenca is under way and a part of it is an exhibition by Mallorcan born artist Astrid Colomar.
The exhibition Forca de Graveta (Force of Gravity) rather than being a collection of the artist’s work is a sole installation created uniquely for this festival. The artist takes her inspiration in part from the location in which it is displayed – the Church of Santa Maria de Deu Roser in the centre of Pollenca.
The festival program lists Force of Gravity as a “rite/performance, painting” and indeed it is a piece of several parts; performance, painting, video and sound. The first element to greet the eye of the observer is the assorted collection of plush red chairs and sofas, seats all left provocatively empty, inverted and suspended by thick red ropes from the centre of the church’s roof in a display which the program calls a “a suspended stage design”.
Beneath this suspension is the painting, a shallow wooded tray of liquid red paint and water on submerged paper, which will change day by day as the liquid moves and evaporates. In front of the church alter is a screen showing a documentary video loop of American soldiers in Iraq allegedly attacking innocent civilians, leading to the injury and possible death of two children. The video is evidence of the attack, leaked by an American soldier to the website WikiLeaks in 2010. Interspersed with the video footage are captions and subtitles clarifying what is occurring on the screen. In addition to the sound emanating from the video is a loud, resonant sonic track that fills the church with a reverberation, which affects not just the observer but also the liquid in the painting below the installation.
This combination of mediums and pieces make up Force of Gravity. The variations on the deep colours of red, the inverted empty seats and the liquid painting, coupled with the visual and audio assaults create an almost primal atmosphere inside the beautiful and decorative church setting. The piece encompasses the viewer and makes seeing this installation feel much more like something experienced than simply a piece of work observed. Colomar’s ethos as an artist is in working towards the “dissolution of the boundaries between the internal and external worlds” and this endeavour is evident here.
Astrid Colomar, born in Palma in 1970 has lived her life between the Balearics, Switzerland, Barcelona and the US, she is an award winning artist who’s work has been displayed internationally as well as locally in Mallorca where she now resides.
Her work Force of Gravity, is the only exhibit of its kind being shown as a part of the Festival of Pollenca, an event which encompasses many elements of the arts including the classical music for which it is renowned, plus cinema, poetry, literature and this year several culinary displays and classes. For more information on the events taking place in Pollenca which will continue until the 22nd of August, check out the festival website, and to see Astrid Colomar’s work head to the Church of Santa Maria de Deu Roser, adjacent to the Sant Domingo Cloisters where the majority of the festivals events are taking place.
Force of Gravity will be on display from 18th July until 25th September so you have plenty of time to check it out, the display is free to enter and is open Tuesday – Saturday 11-13.30 and 18.0 – 22.00. Sundays 11.00-13.30, closed Mondays and holidays.
