Video 2
Nordic House Færøyene, Mon 14. Mar 2022 - Sun 27. Mar 2022
Sabina Jacobsson (NO)
1967
The Confrontation 2014 2K/HD. 15 min. In «The Confrontation» Jacobsson plays with one of the episodes from David Lynch’s TV-series Hotel Room (1993). The severe plot and the fundamental consequences of the main character’s reactions, is being served to us with laughter accompanied by experimental sound and music.
The Collectors 2016 HD. 17 min. This is a shortfilm project based on paintings by David Hockney in the period 1965-1972. The film also touches his theories on the secret knowledge of our old masters from his book in 2001; “Rediscovering the Lost Techinques of the Old Masters”.
En Nuestro Presente/In Our Presence 2018 HD. 18 min. A script based on my father's death and my mother's reactions afterwards, is the foundation of this shortfilm. Interpreted by a group of actors from an organization in Spain for people who have ended up outside the community in one way or another.
In the making of “En Nuestro Presente/In Our Presence 2021 HD. 10 min. A short introduction showing pictures and clips of the people and the surroundings in Spain during recording of the film.
Ideas and Doubt 2021 HD. 30 min. A relay with 6 artists in a meeting with me where we recontextualize previous works we have done together.
In the winter of 2021-22 the Nordic House in the Faroe Islands will be showcasing works by ten prominent Nordic video artists. It is the second time that we dedicate a whole season to this art form. In the dark half of 2018-19 the Nordic House hosted a similar series of ten exhibitions. They all inspired us to continue exploring this immaterial digital art form that enables us, in spite of the pandemic, to reach each other, and leave a smaller environmental footprint in the process.
The first series fostered linkages with new artists and new audiences, new dialogues between the building and art, and new encounters between different genres. And so the Nordic House decided to take on another ten exhibitions with some of the biggest video artists in the Nordic region.
Video art is special. It brought time and movement into visual art, made space for ideas and concepts to take centre stage, introduced technology, and linked visual art to film and dance, performance and poetry. Video art has made activism part of artistic practice, erased the boundaries between art and surrounding society, and it has laid bare how closely related art and critical thinking are.
Since its dawn in the 1960s, video art has experimented with different formal approaches that reinforce critical reflection. Its characteristic lightness and flexibility allowed for an inquisitive and open approach, where the art form itself was tested and stretched again and again. Not unlike the scientific method. The systematic, analytical and reflexive elements of the artistic process became more evident with video art. At the same time, these virtues associated with critical thinking were infused with a wild and quirky streak, constantly pushing boundaries. This distinctive and exquisite blend is still palpable in much video art.
In this manner video art trains us to perceive the world in new ways, to see new possibilities, see what is not immediately visible. It teaches us to doubt, ask questions, identify new thought patterns and see new contexts. Video art is not merely interested in what reality looks like, but also in how we perceive it. Norms, values and fixed notions are constantly challenged in this multi-faceted genre, which always insists on critical thinking.
Because critical thinking is a precondition for self-awareness and reflection, it is necessary to create meaning, to find insight in ourselves and our values, in our surroundings and nature, in each other and society. In this way video art fosters a basis for both empathy and ethics.
The works featured at the Nordic House in the winter of 2021-22 give us all this, and so much more. Humour, for instance. There is much to look forward to.
Thank you to the wonderful artists who are taking part in the series. Thank you to Elina Brotherus (FI), J. Tobias Anderson (SE), Lillibeth Cuenca Rasmussen (DK), Egill Sæbjørnsson (IS), Jón Sonni Jensen (FO), Torbjørn Rødland (NO), Ann-Sofi Sidén (SE), Alda Mohr Eyðunardóttir (FO), Lauri Astala (FI) and Sabina Jacobsson (NO).