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Location is crucial to 'The Flood'. As I have explained in my previous posts, the installation is designed to be presented in windows with the use of rear projections and surface transducers. The prototype I have developed and documented in my time in the Annex here at B–CSC has been for a single window but ideally I plan to present the work using a small building with multiple windows, to emphasise the sense of a contained flood that is far more extensive than can be directly seen or heard.
During my walks around the village and Lake Guy below, I have scouted for a suitable place to present the installation. The work is intended to be part of the upcoming 'Phantasmagoria' festival here next year. The village is largely comprised of cabins - houses really - that are collectively managed and available as holiday accommodation. However, most of these are quite large and in any case, they are surrounded by well developed English style gardens and so would not offer good sight and hearing lines for audiences. Down by the lake there is an old tavern - Bogong Jack's - and the reception office, neither of which are really suitable either, and in the centre of town is the Bogong Outdoor School, a large complex periodically inhabited by school children who come from all over the state for outdoor education camps, which is clearly too unwieldy, and likely unavailable. Fortunately, I very quickly happened upon the perfect location, the shed next to the river that you can see in the photo above.
The shed is perhaps seven metres by five metres in size and, as you can see, is built from corrugated roofing material. It has three windows, each of a size quite similar to the one I listen out of in the Annex - the one you can see in the image, one in the same position on the opposite side of the building and one facing the river. On top of all that, it has power and is owned by the village. Bogong Hydroelectric Power Station is buried in the hill you can see behind and the shed did belong to AGL, who run the facility, but luckily for me they handed it over to village recently. Madelynne and I went to have a look and it really does seem perfect. It is easy accessible with flat load access through the roller doors you can see in the picture and has power points distributed throughout. Most importantly, it is easily accessible for audiences, can be seen from a range of vantage points - including a nearby footbridge where Rocky Valley Creek and Pretty Valley Creek meet to feed into the river - and the corrugated constructions should sound great with the transducers, particularly right next to the rush of the river.
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Tomorrow I must head back down to the city and it is not without some reluctance that I now begin to pack and clean up. Staying here at B–CSC has, however, been the most nourishing of experiences, so I leave satisfied. I've concentrated here on the development of the installation as it was the work I was most focused on doing during this residency and in the hope that this documentation of process is interesting and perhaps even thought provoking for those of you reading, but there is so much more I could have written about. Bogong is a stunningly powerful place and I wouldn't know how to communicate all the details of the landscape, wildlife, walks, conversations, books, thoughts and more that have filled my time here.