Kunsthalle Recklinghausen
Bianca Hisse & Shahrzad Malekian
The project addresses the changing landscape of Svalbard, from coal mining to tourism and technological infrastructures. It initiates a dialogue between Svalbard and Punta Arenas (Chile) to explore the invisible transnational connections between extreme geographical regions of the world.
The exhibition consists of sculptures, a multi-channel film and a six-channel sound installation. The sculptures are made of soap using coal from Svalbard. Inspired by the coal-soap souvenirs found in tourist stores in Longyearbyen, the sculptures address Svalbard's changing landscape from a coal industry to the tourism-driven economy. Coal in the form of soap is what remains of the industrial past, transforming the natural resource into a commodity.
The 2-channel film, which projects a mapping onto a constructed structure, consists of a performative dialogue between Svalbard and Chile. In the film, two people walk backwards through a remote area on Svalbard where antennas are located. With their eyes closed and holding a whistle, LED lamps and flashlights, they try to find each other in a wild natural landscape. A responsive action takes place on the other side of the planet, in Punta Arenas. The performers communicate between the poles through choreographic gestures in relation to the similar satellite infrastructures in their respective contexts.
The choreography and soundscape explores the act of whistling, which evokes human strategies of communication in vast empty landscapes, signaling gestures and long-distance transmissions, but also alludes to migrating animals, blowing wind, or radio signals. The ambiguity of these elements create an atmospheric perception of time and space, where borders between north and south slowly blur.
With this project, we address how humans, landscape, economy, and technological developments are intertwined around the world. We intend to make these global perspectives visible: How are infrastructures, cities, and social spaces interconnected across the planet? What are the invisible, cross-national ties between the world's extreme geographic regions?
Curated by Nico Anklam
Produced by Kunsthalle Recklinghausen
Direction of Photography: Sebastián Larrain and Stein Henninghsen
Performers: Fabiola Simonetti, Caro Fuentealba, Bianca Hisse and Shahrzad Malekian
Soundscape: Tom Monteiro
Photo credit: Caroline Schlüter
Links to videos:
https://vimeo.com/802815791
https://vimeo.com/802815101
