About project
An ancient gorge between the ultra-modern buildings of the Bořislavka Centre. High-strength concrete and the prehistoric past of the site. The work Aerial refers to the historical trade route. The trail led through forests and meadows, through a mountain pass, through a place where people could cross challenging natural obstacles in relative safety. Federico Díaz has created a shape that resembles a natural formation of rock, petrified trees or underground stalagmite formations. Aerial thus represents the passage of time itself. Although it is static, it seems to be in constant motion, growing out of a pool of water and with water running down its surface. The sculpture weighs 57,000 kilograms and measures 7.5 metres. It was created with a completely new technology of robotic concrete layering, which Federico Díaz and his team have been developing for several years. It is made of high-strength concrete, which is what has made it possible to create such a subtle and monumental work.
During the Signal Festival, Aerial will be brought to life with a video projection (by Jan Hladil) and sound performances prepared by the authors especially for these festival evenings. An exceptional and completely new layer of this sculpture will be created by the compositions of sounds produced by touching its robotically fabricated concrete structures. The compositions played and recorded in this way form the basis of the title track of the vinyl album Concrete Layers, which will be released on this occasion and which was created by musician Jonáš Rosůlek. The recording thematises the relationship between humans and the landscape, its morphological and geological layers, and reflects on architecture, craft and the possibilities of building with software algorithms and artificial intelligence. It will include four tracks in total – Concrete Layers, Foundation, New Materiality and Permanent Structures.
Signal Satellites are works using digital tools, modelling and construction. They are works outside the festival itinerary that can be visited at any time. However, during the festival they will come alive with a special lighting program. These works also fit with this year’s festival theme – Ecosystems: Exploration.
