30Km
Project description
30Km is a video artwork and installation by British artist Simon Faithfull (b. 1966, London), documenting a continuous ascent from the human scale towards the edge of space. The film begins with a quiet overhead view of a man adjusting a camera mounted on a rig. Without warning, the camera begins to rise, suspended beneath a weather balloon, while the figure below gradually disappears into the landscape.
The single-take journey unfolds over 32 minutes, moving through successive layers of the atmosphere. The man becomes a small red point within a green field, the field becomes part of the geometric landscape of southern England, and eventually the curvature of the Earth appears against the darkness of space. The slow movement of the camera transforms a familiar landscape into an increasingly distant and abstract image.
The ascent was made possible through a handmade system comprising a meteorological balloon, video camera, GPS transmitter and mobile receiving station on the ground. As the camera rose, its signal was transmitted in real time, allowing the team to track its position and maintain the connection. The resulting image is therefore both a record of physical ascent and a product of a fragile technological network.
The soundtrack is composed entirely from the raw packets of GPS data transmitted alongside the video. Normally silent and functional, the data is transformed into a rhythmic and insistent pulse that accompanies the gradual movement away from the Earth. The sound reinforces the tension between the technical infrastructure of the project and the increasingly remote landscape shown on screen.
The journey ends at an altitude of 30 kilometres, where the balloon bursts in the thin upper atmosphere. Unable to recover the equipment, the physical components of the project were lost, leaving the transmitted recording as the remaining trace of the journey. The disappearance of the apparatus becomes integral to the work, introducing a sense of impermanence and vulnerability into an otherwise controlled technological experiment.
Through its movement from an intimate human perspective towards a cosmic view of the Earth, 30Km considers scale, distance and the limits of human perception. The work transforms a simple ascent into a meditation on the relationship between technology, landscape and the fragile connection between the earth and the sky.
Bio
Simon Faithfull (b. 1966, London) is a British artist based in Berlin whose practice explores travel, landscape, movement and the relationship between the physical world and systems of recording. Working across drawing, video, installation and digital media, Faithfull frequently uses journeys and acts of observation to examine place, distance and perception.
His work has been exhibited internationally in solo and group exhibitions at institutions and venues including Galerie Polaris in Paris, Fundación Pablo Atchugarry in Miami, Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin, The Exchange in Penzance, Le Musée des Beaux-Arts in Calais, Turner Contemporary, Palais de Tokyo in Paris, the Asia Culture Center in Gwangju, Maison Rouge in Paris, Parafin Gallery in London, CCCB in Barcelona and the Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts.
Faithfull’s work is held in collections including Centre Pompidou, the Government Art Collection, the Arts Council Collection, FRAC Franche-Comté, FRAC Basse-Normandie and the MAST Foundation in Bologna. He is Professor of Fine Art at the Slade School of Fine Art, University College London.
Project details
Year: 2003
Artist: Simon Faithfull
Commissioned by: Film and Video Umbrella
In association with: NOW Festival
Support: National Touring Programme, Arts Council England
Format: Video artwork and installation
Country: United Kingdom