Projektdokumentation: rainbowNotioN – Fotobot ... - Belleville AG

4 cities, 2 concepts
The idea was to let this Fotobot-installation travel to major art festivals in South
Africa throughout 2006 (Cape Town, Oudtshoorn, Grahamstown). However in
Johannesburg, the final destination, the Fotobots will not be related to a festival or
event and therefore not be placed in a major pedestrian area. The metropolis of
Johannesburg is not clear and definite in its geographical setting, instead the city
shows a huge, endless puzzle of socially distinct areas. Taking this in consideration
we decided to focus on one specific social environment: the Freedom Charter Area in
the township of Kliptown; a very needy and longtime neglected area in Soweto.
Timetable
Cape Town The Cape Town Festival 03.03.2006 – 24.03.2006
Oudtshoorn Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees 01.04.2006 – 08.04.2006
Grahamstown National Arts Festival 29.06.2006 – 08.07.2006
Johannesburg Kliptown 04.10.2006 – 31.12.2006
Main parts of the installation
The Installation consists of 4 main parts.
• The site in public space (shopping window on a pedestrian area).
• The Fotobots and its computers (connecting the real world with the digital
room).
• Question on social issues posed to the public (placed above the Fotobots).
• The website (working as portrait archive and discussion board of the project).
The entire Fotobot equipment was shipped from Switzerland to South Africa and
transported from location to location. Since the 4 locations differ greatly, our goal
was to adapt the installation and questions to the local circumstances without
loosing an overall identity of the project. All the questions, communication material
and window stickers have therefore been developed and realized on site with local
support.
General design
The visual concept of the installation and website of rainbowNOTION is a reflection
of the South African Flag. Our idea was to play with its characteristics of colors and
stripes in a way that helped to communicate both, spirit and content of the project.
Inspired by the beautiful old overhead windows of the first location, Cape Gateway in
Cape Town, we arranged the stripes radiating from the center of the fotobots. To
match the international code of signalization the main color of the YES-window is in
green, the NO-window red.
Martin Roth, November 2006 5