Relocation.Triptych

Relocation

2009–11

In Relocation, Yann Novak explores the multitude of emotional states experienced during and after the relocation of one’s life. Utilizing his unique technique of transforming a simple environmental recording into something emotional and visceral, Novak creates three installations, each using a different step of the moving process as a point of departure. In all three works, Novak alters the timbre of the recordings but not the length. By doing so he let the subtly changing character of the original recordings dictate how the pieces will unfold. The pieces are spared formal compositional interjection from the artist and allowed to exist in the limbo between documentation and composition.

Relocation.Triptych

2011

Giclée Prints

Materials: Giclée prints
Dimensions: 12 x 12 in. / 30.5 x 30.5 cm each
Edition: 10 + 2AP

Relocation.Triptych is a 2011 print edition in the Relocation series. The piece is composed from three stills from the audio/video installation Relocation.Mobile. These images have been altered and were originally intended for the Relocation.Reconstruction CD cover released on LINE in 2010 (LINE_045).

The Relocation.Triptych is printed on Crane Museo Max 365gsm paper.

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Relocation.Immersion

2010

Performance

Materials: Live stereo sound, P.A. system, computer, midi controller
Dimensions: Variable
Duration: 30 min – 45 min

Relocation.Immersion is derived from the sounds elements of the three installations in Yann Novak’s solo exhibition Relocation at Lawrimore Project in May 2009. In the original Relocation exhibition, Novak explored the multitude of emotional states experienced during and after the relocation of one’s life.

In Relocation.Immersion Novak continue this exploration into the relocation process a year after his physical relocation with the new insight that, though he have arrived at his destination, the relocation process is far from over. By utilizing the altered sounds of these previous works as points of departure, Relocation.Immersion retains some of the moods and themes of the original experience, but reconstructs them into a slowly evolving immersion. Textures, tones and faint melodies drift in and out of existence, never standing still, always in a state of exposure and disintegration. Through the development of this subtle, yet dynamic state, a melancholic mood arises from the simultaneous experiences of discovery and loss.

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Relocation.Vacant

2009

Sound Installation

Installation view, Lawrimore Project, photo: Steven Miller

Materials: Quadrophonic sound, speakers, subwoofer, amplifier, DVD player, pedestals
Dimensions: Variable
Duration: 40 min 35 sec, loop

As its point of departure, Relocation.Vacant uses the sound of the empty loft Novak lived and worked in for over four years. Presented in an empty gallery with nothing to obscure or hide the equipment used to produce the piece, Relocation.Vacant exaggerates the cavernous feelings of the slow dismantling and eventual erasure of the dweller’s personality from a space. The piece evokes nostalgia–nostalgia of the first steps into the space and of everything that transpired from that first moment up until the point of departure.

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Relocation.Mobile

2009

Audiovisual Installation

Detail, Lawrimore Project, photo: Steven Miller

Materials: Video (color, sound), projector, two headphones, DVD player
Dimensions: Variable, landscape orientation
Duration: 21 min, loop
Edition: 3

Relocation.Mobile investigates the roller coster of emotions experienced during physical relocation. It explores the interval between the dweller’s departure and arrival–the time when he or she has no current home, just a destination. Utilizing photos and recordings taken during the long drive down I-5 from Seattle to Los Angeles, Relocation.Mobile examines the push and pull, and the ups and down, of this emotional time that can bend one’s perception of time while he or she tries to prepare for the future and let go of the past. Relocation.Mobile is presented as a large projection of moving images with sound work provided through headphones to constrict the viewer’s experience so it is solitary and truly his or her own.

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Relocation.Dislocation

2009

Audiovisual Installation

Materials: Video (color, sound), projector, speakers, DVD player
Dimensions: Variable, landscape orientation
Duration: 46 min 12 sec, loop
Edition: 3

Relocation.Dislocation explores the end of the relocation process, the time when a facsimile of the old life has been assembled, but a feeling of home has not yet developed. Relocation.Dislocation uses an images of the sun shining the roll-up door of Novak’s new loft in Los Angeles and a recording taken inside the loft with the mics aimed at the open door as a point of departure. The piece is presented in a darkened room to simulate Novak’s loft in Los Angeles with the projection simulating the southern sunlight pouring in. By developing this environment, Relocation.Dislocation evokes both the uncertainty of arriving in a new place and the blinding potential that’s possible that are both present near the end of the relocation process.

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Related Recordings & Publications

Relocation.Reconstruction

2010

Album

Label: LINE
Catalog No.: LINE_045
Format: CD, digital, streaming
Duration: 42 min
Edition: 500 (out of print)

Relocation.Reconstruction is derived from the sound elements of the three installations in Yann Novak’s solo exhibition Relocation at Lawrimore Project (May 2009). In the original exhibition, Novak explored the multitude of emotional states experienced during and after the relocation of one’s life.

With this latest work, Novak continues his exploration into this theme a year after the initial event that inspired him, with the new insight that although he has arrived at his destination, the relocation process is far from over. By utilizing the altered sounds of the previous works as a point of departure, Relocation.Reconstruction retains some of the moods and themes of its predecessors, but reconstructs them into a slowly evolving, immersive composition. Textures, tones and faint melodies drift in and out of audible perception, never standing still, always in a state of becoming and disintegration. Through the development of this static, yet dynamic state, a familiar sense of melancholy arises from these simultaneous experiences of discovery and loss.

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Relocation.Catalog

2009

Exhibition Catalog

Publisher: smlEditions
Author: Christopher DeLaurenti
Designer: Yann Novak
Dimensions: 5.5 x 8.5 in. / 13.97 x 21.59 cm, 24 pp
Edition: 100 (out of print)

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