The Mine Dream installation consists of three videos and field audio recordings. The central video shows views of the Bohemian Central Highlands, the Bílina mine, the Ledvice power plant and the construction site of the KK 1600 excavator. In the scenes, one can perceive a strong contrast between nature, the „artificial“ reclaimed landscape, and the massive mine pits awaiting reclamation. A striking moment in the video is the view of two times of the day, where the dominance of nature and human activity alternate. In the daytime, wildlife can be seen around the dumps and dolo and birds can be heard singing. After dark, the situation changes dramatically – one can only see the absurdly strongly lit mining pit with its towers and excavators and hear the incessant clatter of mining equipment.

The other two videos show different approaches to sonification of field recordings. The first of these visually alludes to the gradual layering of mined tailings and the creation of horizontal structures layered over time, the second to the spreading of soil from the stockpiles that continually reshapes the landscape. 

A static video of a view of the Bohemian Central Highlands, the bílina mine, the Lednice power station and the site of the KK1600 excavator production

View from the landscape of the Bohemian Central Highlands. Hundreds of tonnes of soil are being piled and layered daily. Due to the scale at which everything is done, the processes can only be perceived over longer periods of time.

The reclaimed areas, where there are viewpoints, look like a natural landscape, with birds singing and deer running around, an idyllic natural environment. Contrast with the brutal devastation of the landscape on a giant scale literally around the corner. During the day, the mines are soundproofed by the ubiquitous nature. Only when nature begins to fall asleep for the night do the mines take over. Not only in sound, but also in the sheer fact of the enormous glow from the lights of the dozens of metres high mining machines working 24/7.

The installation is made up of two projections – a view of the landscape from places close to the Liptický vyhlídka (which offers a view of the mines, the power plant, the dumps, the Ore Mountains of the Bohemian Central Highlands) and two variants of soundscape recordings. 

Soundscape visualizations 

The first variant is reminiscent of the spreading of clay, from the foundations that created the current landscape and the look of the viewpoint itself and its wide surroundings.

The second, on the other hand, layers the gradual piling (the whole process of laying the excavated material is based on the principle of semicircular layers).

The Liptice viewpoint is located on the site of the former village of Liptice, which disappeared in 1976 (population approx. 700)