‘Limits of a Known Territory’ is a site-specific installation by Troika shown for the first time at NC-arte in Bogotá, transforming more than 200 square meters of the foundation space into a crepuscular, seemingly abandoned environment, flooded with water. The gallery echoes with the variable sound of eleven streams of water dripping from the ceiling, behaving in different and unfamiliar ways: some are frozen in time, others running slower, faster or in reverse. The visitor navigates the space by walking over stepping-stones scattered across the floor.
The subjective and intangible experience of time is made physical by the controlled choreography of the varying speeds and illogical directionality of the water streams. These assume in the empty space of the gallery the somewhat architectural value of liquid pillars while imbuing the space with a visual sense of rhythm.
‘Limits of a Known Territory’ is Troika’s second use of water within a sculptural environment. ‘Testing Time’ operates on a similar formula, suspending a single stream of water, so it separates into static, singular droplets. Unlike the unpredictable, immersive nature of ‘Limits of a Known Territory’, in which the viewer is surrounded by water, ‘Testing Time’ crystallises the notion of control over chaos, man over nature into a distinct object.
Drawing upon Troika’s interest in the connections between randomness and the exercise of control, ‘Limits of a Known Territory’ becomes the simulation of a parallel reality or the stage for a glitchy futuristic reminiscence of what might once have been a casual occurrence. Alongside the installation, additional works in the exhibition, such as ‘Squaring the Circle’ and ‘Cartography of Control’ share this deceptive nature, unsettling our assumptions of what we perceive as predictable, possible or real.
In June 2017 ‘Limits of a Known Territory’ travels to Europe for the first time to be shown as part of Troika's solo exhibition ‘Glitches’ at Galerie Ron Mandos in Amsterdam.