Dear Mike Leggett and Alastair Weakley,
The Gwangju Biennale has now closed and the computer equipment which constitutes the work has been returned to my home here in Canada. The weather data provided by the sensing device on the roof of the University of Sydney played a major roll in the editing of picture and sound and provided the global context for the Installation.
The opening weekend of the exhibition was attended by an estimated 10,000 people, numerous Asian television and radio networks and the American ambassador to South Korea. The Ambassador’s “surprise” visit was accompanied by a massive military presence and a series of spontaneous anti - American demonstrations. Once the dust had settled however, the more serious business of the Biennale commenced with a series of press conferences and symposiums and, for the artists, an endless ordeal of press interviews. Fortunately the exhibition was also attended by curators from all over the world and particularly from Asia and the burgeoning Asian Biennales such as Singapore, Shanghai, Beijing and Seoul.
Tree Studies was very well received and I am extremely pleased with the results. The weather data supplied by the sensor on the roof of the University of Sydney played a major roll in shaping the installation. The interactive software worked perfectly and on the weekend of the opening a wind storm in Sydney, had a very dramatic effect on the work. We had not seen it working with 30+ knots wind speed and it was a strange and very strong physical experience to be in the room with it! Indeed the planetary wind seemed to breath vitality into the space and the tree shook itself to life and danced to the tune of it! A few days later a blustery south westerly in London took over from Sydney and as I left Gwangju to return to Canada an uneasy equilibrium between the weather on all four continents, Asia, North America Australia and Europe, was giving rise to some very dynamic cross cutting and some unanticipated combinations of sound and image.
The list of participating academic institutions include the following: Slade School of Fine Art, UCL London, UK. University of Technology – Creativity and Cognition Studios, Sydney, Australia. University of British Colombia – ICICS (Institute for Computing, Information, and Cognitive Systems) Vancouver, Canada. And The School for the Contemporary Arts at Simon Fraser University, Vancouver.
Please find enclosed the following materials for your records:
One DVD documentation “Tree Studies” at the Gwangju Biennale, South Korea 2006
One catalogue which accompanied the exhibition.
One catalogue listing the works exhibited plus sponsors and credits.
One Project description written by myself.
Further information is available on my web site: http//www.sfu.ca/~welsby
I would like to take this opportunity to thank you and the University of Technology Sydney for taking part of this international research project and for your contribution to the success of Tree Studies.
Yours sincerely,
Chris Welsby.
Professor of Fine Arts.
CC Dr Mario Pinto, Vice President Research
Dr John Waterhouse, Vice President Academic
Owen Underhill, Chair, School for the Contemporary Arts
Simon Fraser University
School for the Contemporary Arts
8888 University Drive, Burnaby
Vancouver BC
Canada V5A 1S6
