Who controls who?

Two fast-rising talents, Esben Weile Kjær and Maja Malou Lyse, have teamed up to create a brand new piece for the exhibition, subtly and humorously inverting the power dynamic between audience and performers. The festival screen shows the two artists fighting, playing and clinging to the surface separating them from the audience, as the scene is continuously interrupted by messages telling the audience what to do. Pressure Pictures asks a simple question: Who controls who?

Elsewhere at the festival, seemingly at random, the crowd is introduced to performance artist Filip Vest’s no less than 48 pop song suggestions. Imperfect Pitch: 48 Ideas for a Pop Song is a hesitant manifesto for a new alternative pop song for a changing world, The songs range from hopeful to cynical. One is about starting at the bottom and staying there. Another gives you back the time you have lost. And one never stops. Vest’s work reveals the troubled and enchanting nature of pop songs in the world we live in today.

A dystopian thought experiment

One of the exhibition’s two international contributions comes courtesy of the Apparatus 22 artist collective inviting us into a dystopian universe. In this thought experiment, bones are the last remaining vestige of imagination, since artificial intelligence has rendered human thoughts and feelings redundant. Deceptively humorous, We Found the Bones of FICTION is a rallying cry wrapped in 10 questions urging us to hold on to fiction and fantasy. That’s where hope is found in a tumultuous world.

Finally, the audience is confronted with statements by the Kosovar artist Driton Selmani. Liberatingly direct, his work Let It Be points at the contrast between human hubris and self-regard and our vanishingly small significance in the universe at large. In the face of these bleak facts, we realize that uncertainty and mystery are what make life exciting and worth living.

Text: Christian Skovbjerg Jensen

Link: https://samtidskunst.dk/event/public-announcements/

Ideal, ideal, ideal, Knowledge, knowledge, knowledge, Boomboom, boomboom, boomboom...1

Let It Be is a thought-provoking artwork that delves into the absurdity of human existence within the larger context of the uni- verse's history. "The Universe Began with a Bang and Has Been Making Noise Ever Since," is a commentary on the evolution of humanity and the impact we have had on the world around us. Using ironic statements, the artwork challenges our motivations and actions, questioning whether our sense of self-importance is justified.

Through its examination of human history, the work highlights the contradictions and complexities of our past, from the emergence of life on Earth to the invention of capitalism and technology. By doing so, the artwork forces us to confront uncomfortable truths about our place in the world and encourages us to question our own beliefs and perceptions of reality.

Inspired by the power of words and their ability to convey complex ideas and emotions, the artwork's focus on irony and absurdity serves to create a sense of cognitive dissonance within the viewer, prompting them to reconsider their assumptions and beliefs about the world. Ultimately, Let It Be suggests that we are mere players in the grand scheme of things and that our impact on the universe may be far less significant than we believe. By encouraging the viewer to engage with these ideas, the artwork invites us to embrace uncertainty and the unknown, reminding us that the mystery of our existence is what makes life interesting and worth living.

1. Tristan Tzara, “Manifeste Dada,” 1918, as published in Dada vol. 3 (December 1918), n.p. The English translation throughout this essay is based on the University of Pennsylvania version, but has been occasionally modified for clarity using the original French version.

Let It Be, 2023
Verical LED board with white diodes and black housing
Dimensions: 1920 x 1080 pixels
28.06—01.07.2023
Courtesy of the Artist & Museet for Samtidskunst©
Images: Rie Neuchs