Vertigo

Julian Charrière’s Vertigo (2021) is an immersive installation consisting of an onyx boulder from which a core sample has been excavated and extruded to hang above it. Perforated by elongated slits, the core spins, beaming blinding rays of light in the space’s haze-filled interior. The sculpture’s base is located at the center of a circular carpeted platform where the reclining visitors can rest their heads on hard pillows made of smoothly-carved coal.

Light from the installation penetrates the visitors’ closed eyes, rendering it a kind of group meditation. In the background, a soundtrack plays based on field recordings of two volcanoes—Geldingadalur in Iceland and Erta Ale in Ethiopia.

The artist explains how the installation is a ‘remix’ of Brion Gysin’s historical Dreamachine device, adapted for our 21st century crisis.