Studio recording , Los Angeles:
Sona Khandanyan
Nikolay Poghosyan
Vahag Gharibyan
Harry Vorperian
Studio recording, Neuchâtel:
Télé Objectif Réussir
Julien Pisenti
Gaétan Berthod
Daniel Zumbrunn
Jean-Pierre Lambert
Animation:
Zareh Gorjian
Translators:
Elisabeth Reichen (Swiss German)
Dr. Anahid Aramouni (Eastern Armenian)
Dr. Manoug Seraydarian (Western Armenian)
Jérôme Zorik (French)
Projections music:
“Sareri Hovin Mernem”
(I'd die for the mountain wind)
Armenian folk song
Arranged and performed by Zulal
www.zulal.org
Robot:
Programming: Simon Fivat, under the direction of
Dr. Francesco Mondada, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL)
3D model of the mobile mountain:
Albeiro Sarria et Alina Mnatsakanian
Concept The mountain that I address in my installation has an important role in my consciousness. Unlike the Swiss mountains, I haven't lived in the vicinity of this mountain, but my origins and my identity are somehow connected to it.
"The mountain comes to me" is about mount Ararat, this heroic mountain sitting still in the South East corner of Turkey. This ancient volcanic mountain has a long history of belonging. Armenians are one of the first "hosts" of this mountain, dating back to 3-rd millennium BC. Georgia, Iran, Russia and Turkey took turns in adopting Ararat. Last time Ararat was part of Armenia from 1918 to 1920. One can see mount Ararat through windows of any house in Yerevan, capital of Armenia, but it's just a view and a one sided one. The other side of the mountain can only be seen from Turkey. Borders have moved around Ararat for centuries, with the desire of including this natural icon in the boundaries of different countries.
Besides its long love affair with Armenians, some think of Ararat as the landing ground of the legendary Noah's arc and consider it a holly mountain. So, in a way, Ararat has a universal appeal.
Instead of presenting the romantic/enigmatic view of the mount Ararat, this installation proposes a temporary loan of this holly mountain for a tour of the world, a virtual move with the promise of return to its actual location at the end of the journey of course.
