SYDEN: A MOMENT OF BEING
Photo-series and Installation room (2018)
Concept: Pablo Castilla, Hedvig Biong and Niko Hafkenscheid Photographs: Pablo Castilla, Hedvig Biong Sound design: Niko Hafkenscheid
Co-production: Workspacebrussels, Blackbox Teater Oslo, GST Foundation Oslo With the support of: Projectsubsidie Vlaamse Gemeenschapscommissie
Shown at:
Chapelle des Brigittines Brussels International Theater Festival Oslo Gánz Novi Festival Zagreb Halles de Saint-Géry Brussels.
Syden: A Moment of Utopian Being is a reading room perceived as a metaphor for a broader analysis of contemporary needs and utopical escape. The title is taken from a word commonly used by Scandinavian tourists (Syden means ‘South’ in most Scandinavian languages), introducing any geographically defined holiday-land offering a mental/physical space where ideal living conditions are said to exist and happiness and relaxation continuously to be found. Syden is a metaphor for the experience of freedom, a holistic mental space where humans can explore themselves in a distinct environment, away from the constraints of daily-life. The lushness of desire collides with the banality of an artificially created paradise.
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The installation explores the beauty, mystery and the perversity of the Utopia of holiday, and presents real testimonies by tourists, photographs and field recordings from tourist destinations. The spectator is invited into a space to read, to watch and to listen.