Johanna's WWH

First draft here:[edit]

Still untiteled What: The work consists of a group of 8-10 photographs of personal objects and 3-5 audio pieces. Each of the objects has a different shape, colour and texture. They are all printed on thick foam board, have the approximate size of a human body and are cut out around their margins. They are leaning or hanging on the walls, standing in the room, or simply lying on the ground. The audio pieces are played from speakers which are placed in different spots in the building. Not everywhere it is possible to hear their sound: my voice that speaks in different rhytms and tonalities. How: I collected a series of things that are dear and/or have a special meaning to me. Range of texture, colour and meaning was the key with with with I selected them. I then photographed them in a studio setting, which enabled me to capture as much detail as possible. They will be printed and cut by a company near the exhibition space. The audio pieces are samplings of recordings based on thext that I have written during my research on the topic. I used a basic audio recording program that allowed me to work fast and intuitively. Why: I am interested in the dialogue between animated and inanimated forms of apperence. I wonder what it ist hat we search in our personal belongings: Is there an interrelationship if we place things in our direct environment, that in return influences us again? To what extent do we let them create our identity, and what are we projecting onto them? Why do they sometimes emanate an almost mystical force? How loud is the voice of sentiments or nostalgia speaking to us? Is it the voice of desire for a quality in ourselves? They might sometimes even be just externalized longings.

From Bling Bling to I Ching What: A two channel video installation consisting in projections directed onto two pannels leaning on the wall. The pannels are square, each 2 by 2 meters big. A repetitive motion which seems led by a human hand maps objects in close up. Textures materials and colours are so slowly being revealed in a continuuous loop of 25 minutes, displaying 50 objects one after another. They are all products photographed with a commercial online store-like method. They all derive from the feel-good industry: yoga, wellness, outdoor and nature-experience. An invisible audio source mimics nature sounds such as birds, wind, rain, a forest, woves, frogs and more. How: Throughout 4-5 months I collected high resolution photographs of objects on online shops. I then saved them on my computer and simulated the visuals of an online-shop zoom movement through photoshop. The recordings were made with a screen recording program. Before diciding on the sequence for the video, I tested which pairs would work well together, and then created the two individual videos. 'Why:' Through an online tool found on a website I was able to sample different types of nature sounds with the rhythm, volume and combinations I wanted. This gave me the opportunity to create fictional natural soundscapes, export them on mp3, and place them in the room with the videos. I am investigating the intrinsic paradox in objects produced fort he wellness industry. I also wanted to focus on both their materiality as well as their virtuality. The increasing trend of nature experience, well-being and seems to me a need for reunification with oneself and the phisical world which we derive from. A call for presence and awareness carried out through our tecnological possibilities, which have a strongly different character than the quality of the character itself.

Sunrise-Sunset What: 9 Pairs of custom made Nike sneakers aligned in a non-specific oval form. They all differ in shape and colour but are all my size: 39. The distance between each shoe also corresponds to the distance between my own foot steps. Each shoe tongue contains a word where usually the Nike logo is placed. An ever repeating sentence is formed through the alignement of the words: „Giving time to get paper and then use that to get stuff cheers me up but not much“. Through wearing them in my everyday life the shoes are eventually activated. How:' Initially working with the online-tool provided by Nike, I played with different sentences, meanings, methods of combination and designs. Later in the process, when the sentence was defined, I bought the uncustomized shoes from the online-store. I then created a Nike-Logo Typeface replica and produced etiquettes for the shoe tongues Each of them was adjusted in size and colour to the design of the shoe, and printed on fabric which I later glued and/or sewed onto the tongues. 'Why:' The circuit between work and reward fascinates and interests me. (Nike) sneakers strike me as a symbol of reward, but also hurry, productivity and indivualization within a system that forces its people into a standardized rhytm and work-mode.

Second Draft (after group feedback)

Still untiteled consists of a group of 8-10 photographs of personal objects and 3-5 audio pieces. The photographs are printed on 10 mm thick foam board and have the approximate size of a human body. Each of them is cut around the margins of the object so that they all differentiate in shape. They are leaning or hanging on the walls, standing in the room, or simply lying on the ground in two spaces of 15 and 10 square meters. The building expands on 4 floors, and the audio pieces are played from speakers which are placed in different spots. Not everywhere it is possible to hear their sound: my voice that speaks in different rythms and tonalities. They are playing in a loop, but sometimes there is silence. I collected a series of things in my immediate surroundings that each have a special function for me. I selected them based on texture, color, but most importantly meaning and then photographed them with soft lightening, capturing as much detail as possible. The audio pieces are samplings of recordings based on text written during my research. I used a basic audio recording program that allowed me to work fast and intuitively. I am interested in the dialogue between animated and unanimated forms of appearence. Through enlarging the photographs of the objects into human size I try to investigate and push the borders of the interrelationship between them and us. I was curious to understand to what extent we let them create our identity, or what are we projecting onto them. I find that objects sometimes emanate an almost mystical force and wanted to play with the questions of sentiments, nostalgia or desire for qualities we search in ourselves. Objects might sometimes even be just externalized longings. Through the combination of audio and sculptural elements I try to create a dialogue between the physical and the aethereal.

From Bling Bling to I Ching is a two channel video installation consisting in projections directed onto two panels of 2 by 2 meters each, both leaning on the wall. A repetitive motion which seems led by a human hand maps the surface of objects in close up: textures, materials and colors are slowly being revealed. One after another each one of the collection of 50 objects is displayed. A procedure that always starts over again in an infinite loop. The photographs seem taken with a soft light and on a white background, as one would find in a commercial catalogue. They all belong to the feel-good industry, from yoga, to meditation, wellness, and outdoor-experience props. An invisible audio source mimics nature sounds such as birds, wind, rain, forest, wolves, waves or frogs. Throughout 4-5 months I collected high resolution photographs of products on online stores. In these virtual shops, objects can be viewed more closely through a simple scroll over: a square popup-window opens up like a lense. I screen-recorded this zoom effect. For the compilation of the video sequences I paired the products up according to visual and functional criterias, and considering the contraddictions which they can evoke. Through another online program I was able to sample already existing types of nature sounds. I so created fictional natural soundscapes and placed them in the room with the videos. With this installation I tried to investigate on the intrinsic paradox within the wellness industry. I wanted to elaborate on both the materiality as well as the virtuality of the commodities produced for this market. The increasing trend of nature experience and well-being seems to me a need for reunification with oneself and the physical world which we derive from: a call for presence and awareness. I wanted to think about the way this call is now often carried out through our technological possibilities such as the internet (a virtual place), or mass production. These approaches seem strongly divergent from the gap they are expected to fill.

Sunrise-Sunset consists of 9 Pairs of custom made Nike sneakers. These 18 shoes are aligned on the floor one in front of another, each pointing forwards into the following shoe and creating the shape of an irregular circle. The distance between each shoe corresponds to the distance between my own foot steps, simulating a walk. Each shoe tongue contains a word where usually the Nike logo is placed. A sentence – that repeats itself infinitely in this circle – is formed through the alinement of these words: „Giving time to get paper and then use that to get stuff cheers me up but not much“. Through their implementation into my everyday life the shoes are activated, and do not exhist anymore as an installation piece, but as a continuous real life performance. Initially working with the online-tool provided by Nike, I played with different sentences, meanings, methods of combination and designs. Later in the process, when the sentence was defined, I bought the un-customized shoes from Nike. I then created a Nike-Logo Typeface replica and produced new Nike lookalike tags each containing a word. All of them were adjusted in size and color to the 9 different design of the sneakers. I then printed the tags on fabric which I later glued and/or sewed onto the tongues accurately, imitating their factory production. The circuit between work and reward interests me. (Nike) sneakers strike me as a symbol of reward, but also hurry, productivity and indivualization within a system that forces its people into a standardized rythm and work-mode. With Sunrise-Sunset I wanted to bring that thought into form, but also let it resonate though their activation in everyday life.