MIA TRIP - Miranda Beck
My first impression of the Andrea Stanislav installation “River to Infinity – The Vanishing Points” was that it was mysterious – being in a room with dark walls and little light, however, the reflective surfaces of the mirrored obelisks and pond created a very stunning brightness at the same time. I was initially very excited at the chance to take off my shoes and be able to walk across the stepping-stones to view the installation. The viewer rarely has an opportunity to interact with the artwork and look at it so closely. I was very surprised to find that by walking around the back of the structure that there was more – horse heads hidden – and I thought it was interesting that this really invited the viewer to explore and make discoveries on his own.
I liked the fact that you could peer down into the mirror pond and it seemed like you were actually looking down into water because the reflections made it appear to go very deep. The sounds were pretty quiet and soft at first like still water, but the booms corresponding with the explosions were unexpected and startling the first time around.
In the next room I felt the same mysterious quality – especially with the mirrors displaying faint portraits looking back at you. I really liked the connection displayed between the two rooms by having the horse bodies on pedestals missing the heads. The astrological charts and signs gave me the impression that everything was related to time and perhaps events occurring in the future.
After re-entering the installation I had a better feel of what it was trying to portray, mainly after reading the description of the installation, and it made more sense and created a different feeling since I knew what to look for at this point and what to expect as far as the explosive sounds. I was surprised to find out that there were some movie references and Internet based pictures influencing the installation and I definitely thought the artist would have some strong belief in astrology. I think it made me feel more like the installation had more of a present day connection to it after learning some of this.
If I had to describe this installation to my family (who aren’t very art-oriented people), I would tell them that they should imagine they were visiting a real landscape – complete with a pond, rocks, and natural artifacts that they really get the chance to explore on their own. I would tell them that it would be like coming to an undiscovered land that you have to investigate fully and learn as much as you can if you want to get a complete understanding of what it is.