First, I found the whole city to be an exhibition, a space filled with art. The architecture, the street art, the installations, the graffiti. It was all a wonderful mess of color and shapes and walking around soaking it all up felt the same as it does inside a gallery or exhibition space. One of the days I decided to do my own thing as I am quite independent and feel that a big group moving around is taking too long to get from A to B. I understand it helps a lot of people, perhaps the younger crowd, to stick together. It can be overwhelming to come to a new city. It was the same for me when I started to travel. But I have been travelling for such a long time that I prefer to do it alone, or maybe with one or two more people. The day I walked around alone was very sunny and warm, it felt like spring had arrived and there was a light and fluffy energy. People seemed to be in a good mood and there were lots of street performers and people drinking and dancing in the streets. It was a fantastic day and I got to roam around and explore a city that I soon fell in love with.
Omer Fast's exhibition was a full experience that when it was over it lingered with me for hours.
I felt like I was hit by a truck and filled with an emotional turbulence afterwards. There were sadness and inspiration at the same time. We had to walk through a series of different spaces set up in different forms. There were a simulation of an airport waiting gate where people sat down and watched ‘5000 feet is the best’.
Then there was some kind of doctors waiting room as well if you kept walking in and then there were four pitched black rooms where there were four films screening. All the rooms were after each other so to see them all you had to go through one after one, until you come to the last room. Then you have to walk back the same way out, through all the rooms, waiting halls etc. The film that hit me the hardest was ‘Spring’ 2016. It was a short film, around 45 minutes long. Different lives intertwining throughout the film, a series of meetings and dramatic situations happening. A study in disconnection and dysfunctionality in relationships, I felt it was very poignant to my own work, it resonated with my own interests and what I wish to express. I have always been drawn to this kind of cinema, where it is scratching under the surface. Digging deeper into the human mind there is a lot of ugliness that if we face that ugliness we can see our true selves and grow. Hollywood often shows the glossy surface where it is all pretty and smooth, but like Cindy Sherman said
"It seems boring to me to pursue the typical idea of beauty, because that is the easiest and the most obvious way to see the world. It’s more challenging to look at the other side”. (1990-91)
A lot of Scandinavian (Swedish) drama can be quite dark. Directors like Ingmar Bergman, Lars Von Trier, Lars Noren, Bjorn Runge and so forth often portray the darker side of family relations and the human psyche. They are not afraid of being grotesque and let the dirt surface. That is what I am doing in my video piece at the moment; allowing all of the dirt to come out and then play with that in whatever way feels right. The mean words, the facial expressions, the shouting, the disappointment and frustration, the tension - everything these films are portraying I am too, but in abstract form. And that's how I felt when I saw 'Spring'. The same structure, the mood, the angles, the problems and arguments, the disconnection. There were very intense scenes and a couple of them made the audience squirm uncomfortable in their seats, or jump from the surprise.
I really like what he did with the multi screens, how they at times were showing the same picture, then changed and showed a different angle or from another persons point of view. It was beautiful and powerful.
'Spring is an expansion of 'Continuity' with similar narrative and relationships. The story revolves around a teenage boy and an older male escort who are both engaged by the couple, Daniel's parents, and whose paths cross violently on the streets of a wealthy German suburb. A portrait of family life in which roles are constantly shifting, 'Spring' touches on issues of loss and recovery, drug addiction, small-town crime and the portrayal of masculinity in an increasingly global economy. There seem to be a few more stories in 'Spring' that in some ways merge at different times in the film. It has some very dark scenes, for example a rape scene with a young man in the military. it starts with two men being intimate, cuddling and kissing in a soft gentle manner. If we suddenly are skipping ahead in the narrative or it is the same men it is not exactly clear, but suddenly there are more men in the room, no words spoken, and we see a man get a towel pressed hard against his mouth so he can't scream, we see him being held down by the other men and his pants being pulled down. It is very intense and uncomfortable to watch but the scene cuts there and we are spared all the graphic details. The sound used in that scene (and other scenes) is interesting, it is jarring and non-melodic, similar to the track I am using in my own video.
The whole exhibition had a sense of disconnection about it; the impersonal waiting rooms, the dysfunctional relationships, the at times surreal narrative. It was an immersive experience, I would have loved to stayed longer but we had to go. What inspired me most was the multi screens and it gave me a few ideas for the exhibition in May. Another immersive exhibition we went to was artist Hanne Lippard's at KW. It wasn't as dark as Fast's, it did bring on a soothing and meditative feeling, but also some reflection and existential melancholia. We wandered around in KW where there was another exhibition which I din't pay attention to, and in a large room there was a beige staircase placed in the middle of it.
I wasn't sure what it was for, I thought at first it was a private area and we weren't supposed to go up there. But there was no stop sign so I went up, not knowing what to expect, I was just curious. Finally up there i hit my head in the ceiling as it was very low. I then realized the staircase and the upstairs room was part of the art work.
A couple of people were sitting up there already and laughed with me when I hit my head, same thing seemed to happen to other tall people. I sat down and looked around. It was a room with with glass windows showing the outside, and a soft salmon pink carpet. Everyone was quiet and just sat there. Like they were waiting for something to happen. I decided to stay and wait, just enjoy the peaceful energy in the quiet room - which would probably not stay silent for too long seeing as there were speakers in every corner. It was a lovely wait, a part of the experience. To wait and be patient, like being in a meditation hall. Then the voice started to speak, it was a female voice that spoke for maybe 10-15 minutes. It was a calming and monotonous voice that at times sounded like it was doing spoken word; it was rhythmic and a play with words. Sounds, structure and language. She posed questions to the listener to reflect on. About life, about the now and the future, why we are here, where we are going, if it all means anything or if it is pointless. The room was a physical extension of her voice and like Omar Fast's exhibition this too became a whole experience to be involved in. Visitors were allowed to sit, stand or lie on the carpet. Stand - if it was possible.
