As Below So Above
Initiation of a Pilgrimage Road to the Threshold Between the High and the Low inaugurating the Ministry of Thresholds
KREV. The Kingdoms of Elgaland-Vargaland
Carl Michael von Hausswolff and Leif Elggren (SWE)
Archaeological site of Monte San Martino, Campi di Riva del Garda, 28 September 2008
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Carl Michael von Hausswolff and Leif Elggren were invited by Sound Threshold to present their project The Kingdoms of Elgaland-Vargaland (KREV) in the archaeological site of Monte San Martino (Mount San Martino) near Lake Garda.
As Below So Above captured the literary references of mitteleurope that emanates from the tales of Franz Kafka and W.G. Sebald inspired by Lake Garda and its shadowy mountain landscape.
Prompted by a reflection about the idea of circularity and limbo – as in Kafka's Hunter Gracchus, set on Lake Garda – the project was developed by the artists as a journey that stretched the initial idea of circularity into a variety of trajectories that culminated in a walk and a convivial celebration.
As Below So Above began its itinerary from Riva del Garda.
On the preceding days leading up to the event at Monte San Martino, after having gathered sound sources on a boat journey between Limone and Riva del Garda, the Kings of Elgaland-Vargaland docked at the Canale La Rocca. Their arrival was followed by the Pilgrimage towards San Martino and the Inauguration of the Ministry of Thresholds.
Because of its proximity to Lake Garda and its mountain location, the archaeological site of San Martino provided the natural yet metaphorical context to explore those ideas of flux and border – geographical, mental or digital – conceptualized by KREV since its inception. The site became the crossroads for a manifold texture of sound and light which – from the High to the Low and vice versa – captured the history as well as the imagery of the site: a place characterised by different historical phases and settlements, most notably by the presence of a Roman sanctuary and archaeological findings which can be dated back to the Second Iron Age.
The project was produced by Sound Threshold and the Museum of Riva del Garda, in collaboration with the Archaeological Heritage Office of the Province of Trento, Niklas Belenius Gallery, Town Council of Tenno, Associazione Culturale San Martino e Banda Della Valletta Dei Liberi Falchi. Supported by the Province of Trento and Town Council of Riva del Garda.
