VENUS MISSION is a multi channel video installation that is concerned with memory and landscape. It tells of the past, present, and future of the opencast mines of Rio Tinto and its red river, located in the province of Huelva, about 80 km northwest of Seville. The mines were considered to be among the world’s most valuable copper mines for many decades. The river Rio Tinto is known for its red color and its mineralized condition. The minerals give the soil and waters of the region shades of blue, green, yellow, red, and brown. Many people believe that these are the mines of King Solomon. Now mostly tourists, industrial archaeologists, and scientists such as the Mars Analog Research and Technology Experiment (MARTE) investigating the origins of life on earth and on Mars visit the mine area. While both Mars and the Mines of Rio Tinto have been explored for their minerals for centuries, at this very moment they are both deserted landscapes with ruins, ready to be colonized and framed by history, mythology, and so-called expert knowledge. A kind of alchemistic process itself, VENUS MISSION draws its title from the mineral copper, which once was associated with the goddess Venus in mythology and alchemy. The video installation combines obsolete and futuristic imaging technologies with an atmospheric soundtrack that includes the natural sounds of birds, water, wind, and echoes from the landing of the Rover on Mars; slight optical interferen-ces suggest warpings of reality and time. The viewer undergoes a sort of time travel in which she/he investigates the pictorial and narrative character of the landscape.
Anne Quirynen was born in 1960 in Sint-Niklaas (Belgium). She lives and works in Berlin. Since 1993 she has been working as an independent video artist, among others with William Forsythe and Wim Vandekeybus. In 1994 she co-founded the independent production company for digital art “De Filmfabriek.” She has taught at the School of the Art Institute, Chicago as assistant professor for Film, Video and New Media and is professor for moving image at the European Media Studies program at the FH Potsdam. Her films and video installations have been shown at international festivals, in exhibitions, and in art centers.
Concept, camera, editing, production: Anne Quirynen
Format: HDV
Running time: 14 minutes
Images from NASA: Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech
