Jerusalem A portrait without a frame
We humans need a vision, and ideal, it is not enough to eliminate suffering – even if it were possible. The vision we have adopted has changed through the centuries, and we are now in a time of transition, when former versions – Christianity, Communism – are harder to accept, and yet our need is as great as ever.
Marina Abramovic adapts practices from Eastern and Shamanistic traditions (meditation, self-mutilation) and presents then in the context of art – to give us access to experiences which our current world view denies us.
Jerusalem has long been the “Centre of the World” in the Western spiritual tradition. Here, Astrid Johannessen, in her film “Jerusalem”, presents it as a symbol for our highest hopes. She documents the Orthodox Easter Celebration – and gives it universality. She juxtaposes scenes from the gruelling services of Holy Week, as celebrated by Russian pilgrims, with the “atheistic” music of Shostakovich, and makes references to the story of the Soviet and Imperial Russian presence in Jerusalem. It does not force ideology upon us, but gives us the feelingof it. If we can only feel this feeling, we will have new strength to search for the individual and collective ideals that will give us hope and meaning.
Richard Green
Bakgrunnshistorie – Tema – Videoarbeidet “Jerusalem A portrait without a frame“
I videoarbeidet fokuseres det på en side av Jerusalem som sjelden blir vist eller skrevet om i de Norske medier : Den Kristne Ortodokse kirkes tilstedeværelse i Jerusalem. ” The Ortodox Palestine Society” ble dannet av Palestinske og Russiske ortodokse kristne i 1847. Organisasjonen var dannet da det også på den tiden var et stort behov for fredelige løsninger mht de ulike folkegruppene og religionene i ”Det hellige land”. En diplomatisk plattform hvor organisasjonen bla. arbeidet aktivt for å hjelpe fattige og husløse i Jerusalem. Formannen for foreningen var Tsar Sergei Alexandrovich og Tsarina Elisabet Alexandrovna .
Tsaren og hans kone bygget et stort pilegrimshotell og sykehus for fattige i Jerusalem og en rekke andre eiendommer bla. Maria Magdalenakirken hvor til dags dato Palestinske og Russiske nonner bor og arbeider for fred. Tsar Sergei ble skutt av revolusjonens menn. Tsarina Elisabeth ble nonne og stiftet en rekke klostere i Russland og Palestina som huset fattige og ga dem opplæring til å bli nonner (foreldreløse gatebarn og narkomane i dagens Russland og Israel). Hennes kropp ligger i en glasskiste i Maria Magdalena Kirken i Jerusalem hvor hun blir tilbedt som en helgen (avbildet i videoens begynnelse). Etter den Russiske revolusjon ble eiendommene ”gitt” av Sovjet til Staten Israel i 1948 .Sykehuset er i dag fengsel og politistasjon og Pilegrimshotellet er et spøkelseshus (avbildet i videoen).
I videoarbeidets begynnelse sees en gammel låst dør som er døren til pilegrimshotellet, den har vært låst i 40 år da en rettsak fremdeles pågår mellom Staten Israel og Tsarfamilien.
Den Hellige Ild i Jerusalem (forts Tema – Videoarbeidet ”Jerusalem A portrait without a frame”)
Pilegrimene kommer hvert år for å oppleve lysmirakelet i Gravkirken i Jerusalem som har skjedd på uforklarlig hvis siden 365 e Kr. Mirakelet skjer på oppstandelsesdagen i påsken bla. ved hjelp av bønnene og ropene fra alle de ortodokse kristne som har vandret, bedt og fastet i 40 dager frem mot dette punkt. Mirakelet kan oppleves og fotograferes, alle har forskjellige erfaringer. I slutten av videoen sees et fotografi fra 1900 som avbilder mirakelet ved siden av min dokumentasjon av hendelsen.
Lydsporet (foruten autentiske opptak fra kirken) er fra Shostakovich symphony nr 15, den siste han skrev i 1971 før han døde. Tematikken i musikken understreker den emosjonelle dimensjonen ved videoarbeidet og sidestille de ulike tidsepokene som videoen omhandler.
Autumn Leaves 2017
This is a video-work in Chiatura, a mining town in Georgia, Caucasus. It captures the sadness of a place full of hardship and deprivation, but also the child’s world, which is unsentimental and profound, and still has hope.
Chiatura is situated in a steep valley, and is unique in being served by a cable-car system which is nearly one hundred years old. This is used as a metaphor for the flight of the spirit which is especially available to those who suffer.
All the music was recorded live in Chiatura Music School and the old cathedral, Tblisi.
To Travel Hopefully. Kunstnerforbundet 2011
There is a saying in English: “It is better to travel hopefully than to arrive.” This is the theme which is explored in this exhibition. There are paintings and video, with film footage from Romania and Paris.
Romania is a magical country. As a visitor one can get lost easily, the pace of life is slower, people think differently. The things that are efficient in Norway, don’t function there, but there is something else, difficult to describe, that functions better. I was walking across a hillside, when I was beckoned over by a shepherd, who wanted to give my companion and I some cheese. He watched, smiling as we ate. Next to us were the sheep who had made the milk, and the big iron vats in which the cheese had just been made. He asked for no payment, so why did he do this? One of the nuns in the local convent explained – for him it was a gift to have the chance to make this present.
There are many Romanians living in Paris, some are gypsies, most are poor. The purpose is generally to get hold of some money. There are rich pickings in such a city, but the life is cruel, not from the physical hardship (although that is there) but from the steel in the eyes the native Parisians, and the police.
Many Romanians want to escape from their country. They told me about relations who worked in Portugal, about working trips to Rome, and of course, to Paris. They say there are no jobs at home, no future. But what can we tell them about their prospects in our ‘rich’ Europe? Will we tell them they may find themselves isolated, maybe homeless, or looking after an aged person whose family doesn’t want to deal with them? How could they understand – all families look after their old in Romania.
The train is sure where it is going, its destination cannot be changed, but the worlds that one sees in passing, if only we could just fly off into them. The church is very important there, and convents can be seen everywhere. These are central to many village communities, and visiting them is like a visiting eternity, the same daily rituals, practiced without end. Peace.
Romanian Rhapsody 2011
The title is taken from a piece by the Romanian composer Enescu. It is based around the words of the celebrated Romanian conductor Sergui Celibidache. The difficulties of goal orientation are no more evident than in the training of a classical musician. Everything is achievement, competition, success. But Celibidache tells us that the essence of music is something entirely different. The film follows a failed violinist (played by myself) in Paris.
Les Chemins de la Liberte 2011
This film follows the journey of a Romanian man who is returning to Paris to revisit the sight of his failed marriage. We see the photographs he took of his family and his home. He had married a middle-class French woman, and dreamed of a new life in new surroundings. But goals often don’t turn out, and he is left drifting with the city homeless, and the starlings. But these birds can show us the aimless freedom of spirit which can be found in the midst of the wasteland.
Ja Lublju 2011
I return to my classic form of video-making, presenting a Russian song, as a character, a gypsy. She has escaped from her poor background and succeeded in gathering wealth, but she looks back and counts the cost.
Frihetens Veier – Galleri Trafo 2010
I ruinene fra den Sovjetiske industribyen Sumkayit i Azerbadjan bor sigøynere, russere og flyktninger fra Nagorno Karabach. De gamle statlige leiegårdene er tidvis uten strøm og vann og delvis uten vinduer. Krakelerte overflater tegner spor av historie og oppløsning. Oljeboring pågår natt og dag.
Videotriologien er et halvdokumentarisk videoarbeid bestående av tre filmer med utgangspunkt i det samme landskapet i industribyen Sumkayit.
Scener fra stedet filmes over tid. Først i neste fase med redigering formes historiene, noen ganger i kombinasjon med rollespill som i ”Eksil” og ”De Dødes Hus” hvor jeg selv opptrer.
Det legges vekt på de visuelle historiske spor som tegner seg lagvis i landskapet og menneskenes umiddelbare tilstedeværelse. Lyden formidler de ulike historiske epokene og emosjonelle plan som i ”Sumkayit – Where the Sun Smiles” hvor en ung pike synger et gammelt epos fra den gangen man dyrket ilden i Azerbadjan. Den sovjetiske soldat-barnesangen bryter inn og konkurrerer til slutt med den Azerbadjanske nasjonalsangen.
Det neste videoarbeidet ”Eksil” er et portrett av en ”Russisk forfatter” bosatt i Oslo. Hans indre verden og lengsel er rettet mot fortiden og familien han har forlatt i Øst. De ulike kulturer settes opp mot hverandre. Den Norske velstanden og ensomheten, hvordan de som lufter hundene i Frognerparken gjennom hunden kan kommunisere og utrykke sine barnlige lengsler, mens de i Azerbadjan kun benytter hunder til gjeting og jakt.
Det tredje videoarbeider ”De Dødes Hus” er basert på Czelav Milos diktsamling ”Fra Løsildens Era” Videoarbeidet er I 3 kapitler og strekker seg fra 1800 tallet gjennom kommunismen i Litauen til 1980. Tema er hvordan landskapet forandres gjennom de ulike regimer I historien. Hvordan hus skifter eiere og mennesker forvandles sjelelig spirituelt umerkelig men så raskt slik at det får dramatiske følger.
Videotriologien ”Frihetens Veier” (2010): 1.Sumkayit (5:14) 2.Eksil (4:30) 3.De Dødes Hus (15:57)
Reflexions 2005
The video work is based on the saint Therese of Lisieux`s diary.
St Therese (1873 – 1897) was a French Carmelite – nun and mystic. She is a patronal saint of France. She has been a highly influential model of sanctity for Catholics and others because of her “Simplicity and practicality”, and her approach to the spiritual life. Together with Saint Francis of Assisi, she is one of the most popular saints in the history of church.
Therese felt an early call to religious life, and overcoming various obstacles, in 1888 at the early age of 15, she became a nun and joined two of her elder sisters in the cloistered Carmelite community of Lisieux, Normandy. After 9 years in the convent, she died at the age of 24. She was canonized 17.May 1925 by Pope Pius, and has her shrine in the Basilica of St. Therese in Lisieux, France. This is the second largest place of pilgrimage in France after Lourdes.
Themes
St. Therese’s diary came out as a book with the title ” l’Histoire d’une Ame” (“The story of a Soul”) in 1898, one year after she died.
I visited the places in Normandy where she lived all her life and also the places that are dedicated to her as a saint: Her home, the monastery, the areas in Trouville from her childhood, Chapels dedicated to her, her grave.
In the video I play St Therese myself , and reconstruct some of the important moments of reflections from her life. The text is read from her diary and you can hear it through the film . The text is about Childhood, youth, how to grow up, and how to understand death in these different stages of life. A reflexion that is essential for all humans.
In the beginning of the film there are scenes from a chapel dedicated to St .Therese. Here you can see walls in marble with the inscriptions of stories with thanks to the saint from people that has received help from the saint in a miraculous way while their lives where in trouble. Other scenes are from St Therese’s childhood, for instance from her bedroom where she experienced a mystical vision from the virgin Mary while being very ill. Other scenes are filmed in Trouville and in local churches, and in the graveyard.
She was a mystic, and already, at the age of 7, she had an extraordinary experience being much older than her actual age, experiencing a timeless universe .
St Therese was a very humble saint that still shows a way to Catholics and others all over the world, with her wisdom. The video work is a dedication to the memory of her soul and all that she did both during her lifetime and after her death.
Ricordare 2004
Ricordare 2004
En mann er død . Tilbake er kun brev og tegninger som vekker minner hos de få etterlatte . I filmen stiller jeg spørsmål om hva som er igjen av et menneskes historie når det går bort og hva som blir et lukket kapittel . Tegningene i filmen er skapt av den Tsjekkiske kunstneren Kurt Zwillinger og er filmet i hans atelier kort tid etter at han døde 95 år gammel. Han levde tilbaketrukket og isolert fra verden og det Norske kunstliv ,som skjelden forsto han. Kanskje forde han bar på en fremmed historie . Han flyktet to ganger i sitt liv. en gang fra nazistene og en gang fra kommunistene. Lydsporet er fra Ginette niveaus tolkning av Chopins nocturne på fiolin spilt i Berlin 1936 kort tid før hun falt ned med et fly. Temaet underbygges ved denne innspillingen og hennes tolkning.
One Actor Videos
In the most of my one actors -videos I work with all the aspects of the production ; Camera ,direction ,production , and acting .
The videos can be described as short music videos where its not the literary story in itself that is the most important , but more the space that is created in the music with the help of visual elements .
The videos has a piece of music as a startingpoint .By listening to the voice i get a vision where I imagine a person, a place, and a scene . A scene colored by time and feeling . I then travel to the place where the song is coming from ,and recreate the vision I originally had . The voice carries a register of experience and feeling . The person I imagine is based on the temperament and caracter in the voice .I mime until the border between me and the caracter is dissolved . I stay a long time at the place, where I do research, where national and local codes for emotional expression are important, such as gestures, and culture . I involve people from the place to take part in the project and act with me .
Enaktere – arbeidsmetode -tema
I de fleste av mine en-akter videoer står jeg for alle sider av produksjonen kamera, regi, scenografi, produksjon og skuespill. Filmene kan beskrives som korte musikkvideoer der det ikke er en handling i litterær forstand som vektlegges, men de rom som skapes i musikken ved hjelp av det visuelle.
Utgangspunktet er en sang .Ved å lytte til arrangementet og stemmen oppstår en skikkelse og forestillingen om et sted . “Stedet” er et slags indre rom fargelagt av tid og følelser. Ved å reise til sangens opphav gjenoppdages stedet , og bildene (scenene ) fortegnes i erfaringens lys ; valg av landskap ,bygninger og tidspunkt . Jeg oppholder meg på stedet over tid, foretar research, knytter vennskap og høster erfaring under arbeidet som er viktig for videoarbeidet med henhold til tema og kulturelle kontekster . De nasjonale og lokale koder for emosjonelle uttrykk er viktig for det språklige i prosjektet .
Jeg forsøker å hente inn ikke – erkjente sider ved oss selv som vi kan få kontakt med i møte med den fremmede. Her blir stemmen viktig fordi den bærer på et følelsesregister og en erfaring .
Gjennom å mime til musikken avdekkes de ulike planene i karakteren. Jeg forsøker å oppløse skillet mellom karakteren og meg selv. Etter mange forsøk utvikles skikkelsens gestalt .
La Forza Del Destino 2004
About the life of Rosa Ponselle,and set to the music with which she made her debut in 1918 . Her roots were in poverty in Soth Italy and then as an immigrant in New York,where she was working in a vaudeville when discovered by Carusa. The memories of lost love and jealousy are from her story,as well as that of Ms Johannessen.
Miserere 2003
The theme is the choice between romantic and spiritual love . The soundtrack is from 1923 recording of Rosa Ponselle singing Verdi s Il Trovatore, and blends the story of the opera with that of Rosa Ponselles own life.
Donau
“Pe un drum Batran de Tara” and” Szep Jana “
Based on two old folksongs . The first, Pe un drum Batran de Tara, is a Doina ,the second is a mourning song . Set in the Transilvanian countryside we follow the protagonist through the scenes where people from the place are a part of the story. A Doina is a celebration – song, a dance . Here we see the protagonist and the reality behind sometimes as two different worlds. The second is Szep Jana. Filmed in Transylvania and set to a Slavic mourning song, it follows the journey of a woman who has lost everything, and is returning to her roots in the country. The words to the song are about the loss of a father, and the film was made shortly after I lost my own.
The Barefooted Child 2007
The Barefooted Child is based on the poem ” The Iluminated Child ” by the Russian poet Alexander Blok . The protagonist are living through two different times: before and after the Russian revolution . The theme is poverty , faith, and emigration to Israel. In the end she arrives in Jerusalem. The sound is Shostakovitch 1905 Symphony, Adagio. The music is based on the story about the massacre on a group of christians in St.Petersburg in 1905 . The video was filmed in Tashkent and Samarkand in Usbekistan and Jerusalem in Israel .
Cinderella 2003
Cinderella is based on the Roman poet Apuleius history about Amor and Psyche. In the videowork i try to actualize old themes from this myth that is still present in our time :
The stages a person must go through to win over the evil – to deserve love . The fairytale has arktypical patterns that still matters in our lives ,for example jealousy . The stepmother in Cinderella is jealous on her fathers past and feels threatened by Cinderella. In the videowork I use images from my own experience as well . The scenes in the film are build up by inspiration from 1600 century paintings in still-life tradition where the objects has a symbolic meaning ,as old photographs and images from the history of art in a collage – form.
The Inheritance
In this work I wanted to focus on the aspect of the inheritance which is not material possessions, but more the shared thread of experience from those before us. This work explores the unseen elements of what we receive from our ancestors rather than the possessions which commonly symbolise them. We inherit shame, sin, love and forgiveness, our inner destiny.
This work is dedicated to the memory of my grandmother.
The Inheritance was shortlisted for the Statoil – prize in 2007 and was shown in Kunstnerforbundet November 2007 . The film was sold to Statoil ,and is a part of the Statoil -collection.
It was also shown at the Statoil – exhibition ” Pieces of energy ” in june
2007 .