Ingrid Koivukangas, Environmental Artist

Luna Sol Cantos / Moon Sun Poem
Video: Created during a residency at Banff Centre, July 2006
Installation: The Other Gallery, Banff Centre

Luna Sol Cantos was created during a week long residency at Banff Centre and is based on the site and surrounding area. I work intuitively at sites and have no idea what kind of work will emerge before I arrive. Although I did know, before arriving in Banff, that I would not be able to create works directly in the land or collect natural materials to bring in to the gallery to become part of an installation. Because of these restrictions I had a vague idea that I would work with photo, video, performance, spoken/written word or possibly in a combination.

The Banff Centre campus map gives the impression that Banff Centre is roughly circular in shape – so I overlaid a circle on the map as an initial site area - not yet realizing that I had arrived at Banff the day before the full moon. Once I did realize this and I began my research I discovered that on July 11th, moonset would be at 4:21 am; sunrise at 5:39 am and sunset at 9:55 pm; moonrise at 11:02 pm . I decided to walk the circle, I’d drawn around Banff Centre, four times on July 11th – a walking meditation – collecting video images along the way. The number four is a sacred number in many cultures and signifies the four directions, manifestation and abstraction, while the circle symbolizes unity, wholeness and life. It’s interesting to note that the July full moon is known as the Thunder Moon (also Hay Moon) – the night of this July full moon was filled with lightening and thunder storms.

I began the first circle walk between moonset and sunrise on the morning of July 11th and each subsequent walk equally spaced 5 hours and 35 minutes apart, ending with the final walk between sunset and moonrise. Each walk began at one of the cardinal points – with the initial walk beginning in the east, the second beginning in the south, the third in the west and the final in the north – all moving in a clockwards direction. The video footage shot during each walk corresponds to a moving upwards of each circle – ie: the video footage shot on the first circle walked was shot at/below knee level, the second circle at hip level, the third at shoulder/eye level and the final reaching into the night sky. The sense of time of day and light changes with each circle moving upwards – and although the footage is presented in order of circle walked, there is no obvious separation between circles provided.

The video is intended to be projected at approximately 10'x10' size, making the micro the macro.

Click pic above to view web quality video

Luna Sol Cantos roughly translates to Moon Sun Poem. The video is approximately 12 minutes long, with 3 minutes of edited footage for each circle walked. Originally I’d intended on including sound – not only site sounds: birds, leaves, wind – but also voice/chant, but once the editing was nearly complete I decided to leave the work silent – letting the images, the Land, the site, speak for itself.

Ingrid Koivukangas Environmental Land Artist Responding to sites around the world through works created in site specific installation, ephemeral sculpture, video, sound, web, permanent site-specific sculpture, photography, printmaking, painting & drawing. Welcoming opportunities to work in different geographic regions & locations in the world, creating site-specific works in response to the land. As well as creating new works in response to existing buildings & sites, for grand openings & special exhibitions. Email				*Luna Sol Cantos /* Moon Sun Poem Video: Created during a residency at Banff Centre, July 2006 Installation: The Other Gallery, Banff Centre Luna Sol Cantos was created during a week long residency at Banff Centre and is based on the site and surrounding area. I work intuitively at sites and have no idea what kind of work will emerge before I arrive. Although I did know, before arriving in Banff, that I would not be able to create works directly in the land or collect natural materials to bring in to the gallery to become part of an installation. Because of these restrictions I had a vague idea that I would work with photo, video, performance, spoken/written word or possibly in a combination. The Banff Centre campus map gives the impression that Banff Centre is roughly circular in shape – so I overlaid a circle on the map as an initial site area - not yet realizing that I had arrived at Banff the day before the full moon. Once I did realize this and I began my research I discovered that on July 11th, moonset would be at 4:21 am; sunrise at 5:39 am and sunset at 9:55 pm; moonrise at 11:02 pm . I decided to walk the circle, I’d drawn around Banff Centre, four times on July 11th – a walking meditation – collecting video images along the way. The number four is a sacred number in many cultures and signifies the four directions, manifestation and abstraction, while the circle symbolizes unity, wholeness and life. It’s interesting to note that the July full moon is known as the Thunder Moon (also Hay Moon) – the night of this July full moon was filled with lightening and thunder storms. I began the first circle walk between moonset and sunrise on the morning of July 11th and each subsequent walk equally spaced 5 hours and 35 minutes apart, ending with the final walk between sunset and moonrise. Each walk began at one of the cardinal points – with the initial walk beginning in the east, the second beginning in the south, the third in the west and the final in the north – all moving in a clockwards direction. The video footage shot during each walk corresponds to a moving upwards of each circle – ie: the video footage shot on the first circle walked was shot at/below knee level, the second circle at hip level, the third at shoulder/eye level and the final reaching into the night sky. The sense of time of day and light changes with each circle moving upwards – and although the footage is presented in order of circle walked, there is no obvious separation between circles provided. The video is intended to be projected at approximately 10'x10' size, making the micro the macro. Click pic above to view web quality video Luna Sol Cantos roughly translates to Moon Sun Poem. The video is approximately 12 minutes long, with 3 minutes of edited footage for each circle walked. Originally I’d intended on including sound – not only site sounds: birds, leaves, wind – but also voice/chant, but once the editing was nearly complete I decided to leave the work silent – letting the images, the Land, the site, speak for itself.
Copyright 2005 Ingrid Koivukangas, all rights reserved