Peninsula, Sparkes & Thompson (2017), digital video, 3’00”.
Peninsula is a three minute video made for the Empire II group show for Venice Biennale 2017.
The video shows a journey, along a road at night, in which only the road and very immediate surrounds are visible. The road appears insubstantial within a void-like darkness. It is a journey into the unknown.
Referencing supernatural film tropes and drawing on the aesthetics of electronic voice phenomena, Peninsula transports the viewer into a liminal space. Sparkes & Thompson have combined layers of sound and image to create a mesmerising yet disturbing journey in which the viewer travels, together with the films unsettling auditory and visual presence, to an uncertain conclusion.
Peninsula was first shown at the Venice Biennale as part of EMPIRE II, a collateral event on the British Art Map. To date, EMPIRE II has toured to Brussels, Cumbria and Berlin. A catalogue has been produced for EMPIRE II designed, produced and published by Victor Hotz Studio.
Watch Peninsula on Vimeo.