Alexandre Estrela

2010

Video, 100 x 70 cm.
Materials: Video projection, DVD (PAL), glass screen, colour, mono sound, loop

In the film Pour le mistral (1965), filmmaker Joris Ivens tries to capture the wind. After the completion of the film, Ivens admitted having failed, as he could only register the mistral by recording its side effects.

Le Moiré is a new attempt to capture the wind and then to release it, as its image is projected. A video shot in Bretagne of a palm tree ravaged by the wind is projected onto a glass screen painted with white stripes. The piece is installed in a corner so that the projected images form an enclosed area. The glass pane subdivides the projection into two images, thus creating three image surfaces – the glass and the two split images. Inside of this concentrated image space, the movement and the sound suggest the formation of wind trapped in a corner. The superimposition of these images creates an optical side effect called ‘moiré’.

Estrela, A. Meio Concreto. Fundação de Serralves, Porto, 2013. p. 88