NOWHERE TO BE FOUND...
PAST / 2007
The works Nowhere to be found/past-present are second and third, in a series of works which also include the more recent work The Hero Dies…/2008 and the pillar work; Overcast/2006.
In the sets the artists have put up, the characters are absent. The audience discovers and manipulates the story and the identity of the inhabitants based on the props on display. Each situation is a separate episode. Together the sets tell a family history; a history that is partly created by the visitor.
In the sequel of this story the artists focus on the character of the old man’s daughter. She as well is a room and the objects on display are telling her story. The story in this room reflects on the old man’s memories. In this part, you could say, the old man’s memories are being worked out to become a set,
a place of event. The story goes as follows; It is the old man’s last chance to reconcile with his daughter. On a TV-screen, present in the room, subtitles with the conversation between the man and his daughter, run infinitely on top of the live recording image of the visitor. The two situations shown together, making them one chapter, focus on ways of involving the visitor as a witness in the action or non-action displayed.
Visually the work consist of two separate boxes, one open from the front, the other closed, only to be entered by a small door. The boxes are constructed in wood, each about 12 square meters with a roof. One is a cellar, with rough plaster walls, no windows and a low ceiling, the other one has a window, a mantelpiece and a high ceiling. Both are equipped with a bed, a table and some objects and belongings of the characters.
So far the first work has been shown in-situ and has later been reproduced as a set. The second work has been shown in-situ but hasn’t been reproduced as a set yet. However a video was shot on location and functions as an isolated work. The video is a 4min24 sec loop with soundtrack.