RAMONA PRATTE

A collaborative installation with artist and taxidermist Chesney Buck, SOMETHING WENT WRONG was an unsettling yet playful experiment in nonlinear storytelling and tone. Utilizing (and sometimes directly quoting) horror and science fiction tropes, viewers were pulled into a mysterious forest where nature and the technology of yesterday had begun to merge.

The installation, hosted by the Leedy-Volkous Arts Center, consisted of six "artifacts" laid out to create the illusion of a continuous landscape. Each "artifact" consisted of a piece of the natural world, such as a stump or a coyote, wound with wires terminating in various LEDs. Over fifty speakers were hidden within the pieces, each producing their own unique sounds. Dimly colored lights lit the space, creating the illusion of a forest eternally at last light.

Many commented on the "creepiness" of the space, leaving quickly. Others felt at peace within it, even laying down in the center and closing their eyes. The space became a Rorschach for viewers, a gauge for one's willingness to dive into the unknown.







©2023 PRATTE/BUCK