e missions - laser projections on goriuda waterfall Original

Inspired by the work of land artists Michael Heizer, Walter de Maria and Robert Smithson, I explore the remote locations of my region in the Alps of Italy to find water streams and bounce my laser on/through them. I'm interested in connecting the natural and the artificial, observe how they interact aesthetically and what they might enhance each other.


In this particular occasion, white laser light was diffracted by the interaction with several ice formations on the Barman waterfall, acting as prisms and separating the colours of the light spectrum into a myriad interacting rainbows. Light is channeled through the inner structures of the icewall revealing its different parts and highlighting its separate branches, flowing through it like in a giant organic optical fiber.


Laser light is very coherent and rather intense: its reflections create very rich abstract worlds on the walls around. They can be rather large, however by zooming in, new dimensions and miniature details appear, revealing fractalized worlds and colourful images.

I take advantage of the high efficiency of laser projectors (requiring low energy consumption) compared to other light sources and recent advancements in laser technology that make possible for the first time to pack a laser projector + power supply into a backpack to reach complex locations. I assemble very light and compact laser projectors and power them through rechargeable batteries.

Many thanks to Andrea Peluso (@_tripsolate_) and Emanuele Pertoldi (@shadedexplorer) for the assistance and location selection, Francesco Scarel (@toppowass) for shooting the video on 5th March 2022.
The water sound was recorded with a Cjossul contact microphone (https://organicaudio.it).

Project commissioned by @aesonfestival and @dobiagram.