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UNDERCURRENTS, 2018
UNDERCURRENTS is a cinematic environment inspired by the Arctic landscape that unfolds in an environment echoing the High Arctic. The work is projected on several sculptures arranged within performance space. A site-specific composition is designed for each space.
The author Voldemārs Johansons is interested in encounters with the magnificence of untouched nature – a realm of Arctic wilderness in a desolate environment that is simultaneously rugged and fragile. The footage was filmed during expedition in Svalbard archipelago, a particular place where the underlying forces of nature manifest in the landscape still largely unshaped by the human activity. This environment is in a process of transition as the changes in climate are most evident in the High Arctic and coincide with increasing human presence and activity in the region.
While we are in search for coexistence of civilisation and environment, the new artwork examines and documents the present visuality of the Arctic landscape – glacial surfaces and mountain ranges, grit of the land with ice melting and water flowing. Walk in between the imposing icebergs as if sliding on the oceanic icecap and choose your own angle and a timeline to immerse in the grand cinematic documentation. The multichannel soundtrack is composed by Voldemārs Johansons and saxophone virtuoso Rolf-Erik Nystrøm (Oslo) and recorded in the unique surroundings of Svalbard – on the glaciers and in the mines, in the abandoned settlements and out at sea.