Photos by Anders Bigum
It all started when we received an invitation to participate in the North Coast Triennial 2016.
One of the conditions for even being included in the exhibition was to take part in the Art
Camp, where we, together with the other invited artists, inspected the area and potential
"sites" — eventually claiming one of them for our work.
We have chosen the "prison cellar" at Esrum Abbey, where we will create a sound
installation that relates to the space and continues our own work with sound as a narrative
element in relation to space and sculpture.
The piece is inspired by a “ghost story” Helle Simonsen told us “off the record” after the
official tour had ended, as we were all lounging in chairs in the courtyard, waiting for what
turned out to be a fantastic feast inside the abbey.
The bloody details of the story are, in a sense, irrelevant — what matters is that something
occurred there, something still talked about today, resulting in reports that the place is
allegedly haunted. Something, we understand, a few overnight guests can confirm.
We are captivated by atmospheres — by spaces, objects, and time charged with emotional
and psychological layers. The “ghost” story altered our experience of the space. The site's
long history is also present in the building and is perceived on an abstract, irrational level.
With the installation, we want to focus on layered memory or action, but also create a bizarre
relationship between reality and fiction.
We’re using a technique named after Jack Foley (1914), still used in film today to provide a
realistic soundscape — which is paradoxical in itself, as behind the scenes these sounds are
anything but what they pretend to be on screen.
All the sounds in the installation are real sounds and will be produced on-site using
mechanical constructions. The sounds simulate everyday situations — an invisible body or a
concrete action — combined into a narrative; a parallel reality, or if you will — an unknown
landscape.
