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2015 » Liechtenstein » Section of Countries and Regions
| Curator: | Georg Sparber |
| Authors of Theme: | Arno Oehri |
| Designer / Architect of exhibition: | Arno Oehri |
| Institution: | Independent artist |
A Mirror & 12 Blastings - a Short Play as a Scenographic Installation
A mirror & 12 blasts is a short play presented as a site-specific scenographic multimedia installation featuring sounds, photographs, a video and an architectural intervention in spaces G35a/b/c of the Kafka House.
Multimedia artist Arno Oehri has developed a new work especially for PQ'15 and the 3 tiny spaces that enclose the Liechtenstein contribution. It is associated with the 3 themes of PQ'15: MusicWeatherPolitics.
The audio installation in Room 1 marks the dramaturgical access to the piece and provides us with suggestive information about the 3 connected rooms. An intriguing direct-to-person text deals with questions about consciousness, perception and the willingness to be manipulated by this specific theatrical intervention. What is here and now? What is real presence? Are we willing to accept what the voice says? Do we agree? Is it all true? Some photographs of the details of the 3 spaces are connected with the spoken word, and are exhibited along the walls of Room 1.
The memory of the spoken word leads us through the other rooms. Room 2 is a narrow and empty corridor that leads to an extension at the end. There is a blinking video image behind the door at the end. The floor of the corridor is laid with square tiles. These are not fixed properly, but loosely attached to the ground one by one. The ground is shaky and at the end of Room 2 we are confronted with the strange sounds of blasts. What is it that creates such an explosive climate?
An open door at the very end of the corridor leads from the extension to another space. This is Room 3. A table is covered with piles of written papers that are the result of a major investigation into the Liechtenstein- Czech relations conducted by a joint commission of historians. This text installation visualizes the “ground” on which the Liechtenstein participation in PQ'15 is based and offers an insight into real historical contexts. From a speaker we hear strange sounds at a low volume. The sounds were recorded in the 3 spaces some time ago. The sound, as well as the text installation, refers to the spoken text in Room 1.
All the 3 spaces are thus interconnected, with the entire piece referring to itself while at the same time opening up a broad range of associations and contexts inspired by the main Music Weather Politics theme. Human perception is always fragmentary and eventually ruled by individual, subjective aspects. Yet we are able to communicate, and we are able to share experiences and spaces. There is always music, weather and politics at the same time.