maxbloching.com
Snow Depot 666 (2023, 22mins)
single-channel video, four channel audio
glass, steel, pvc truck tarp, glacier protection felt GLS 340
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“On the morning of December 28, 1560, people in Germany and Switzerland woke to the unexpected appearance of ‘sky fires’. Drastic weather changes and the onset of the Little Ice Age had drawn the Northern Lights far south into the Alps making the deeply religious population see dragons and devil figures flying through the burning night sky. Their apocalyoptic visions once captured in handcolored wood block prints set the scene for this extraordinary 22mins video and sound installation.
Bloching weaves this history into the contemporary portrait of the practice of snow farming surrounding a glacier in a high Alpine skiing resort. Snow guns, technically produced clouds of ice crystals and glaciers covered in specialist tarp to protect the snow from melting in the summer heat not only seem to perform the logic of asset production and the techno-saviourism of our times but echo the history of apocalyptic visions among Alpine populations during the 1560s. Layering past and present dreams and nightmares of Alpine winter landscape, Snow Depot 666 traces the history of Christian apocalyptic imagination within present adaptation to ecological crisis.”
Goldsmiths Artist Film and Moving Image exhibition, July 20 - 25th 2023, Laurie Grove Baths London
Team
Image, Sound, Montage by Max Bloching
Voice by Marie Bloching
Trumpet by Milo McKinnon
Additional sound recording by Maya Scherr-Willson and Marie Bloching
With thanks to Tana Lucker, Dr. Jochen Hesse Zentralbibliothek Zurich, Dr. Franz Mauelshagen and the community of Goldsmiths Artist Film and Moving Image
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Snow Depot 666 (2023, 22mins)
single-channel video, four channel audio
glass, steel, pvc truck tarp, glacier protection felt GLS 340
“On the morning of December 28, 1560, people in Germany and Switzerland woke to the unexpected appearance of ‘sky fires’. Drastic weather changes and the onset of the Little Ice Age had drawn the Northern Lights far south into the Alps making the deeply religious population see dragons and devil figures flying through the burning night sky. Their apocalyoptic visions once captured in handcolored wood block prints set the scene for this extraordinary 22mins video and sound installation.
Bloching weaves this history into the contemporary portrait of the practice of snow farming surrounding a glacier in a high Alpine skiing resort. Snow guns, technically produced clouds of ice crystals and glaciers covered in specialist tarp to protect the snow from melting in the summer heat not only seem to perform the logic of asset production and the techno-saviourism of our times but echo the history of apocalyptic visions among Alpine populations during the 1560s. Layering past and present dreams and nightmares of Alpine winter landscape, Snow Depot 666 traces the history of Christian apocalyptic imagination within present adaptation to ecological crisis.”
Goldsmiths Artist Film and Moving Image exhibition, July 20 - 25th 2023, Laurie Grove Baths London
Team
Image, Sound, Montage by Max Bloching
Voice by Marie Bloching
Trumpet by Milo McKinnon
Additional sound recording by Maya Scherr-Willson and Marie Bloching
With thanks to Tana Lucker, Dr. Jochen Hesse Zentralbibliothek Zurich, Dr. Franz Mauelshagen and the community of Goldsmiths Artist Film and Moving Image
