(b. 1977 and 1978, live in Bucharest) have been working together since 2011. They are co-founders of the Center for Visual Introspection in Bucharest – an independent curatorial and publishing platform promoting contemporary art in Romania based on artistic research at the meeting point of architecture and design. They create installations, videos, and performances. In their work, they take up the issues of shaping the lives of individuals through national identities, geopolitics and history. Recent projects investigate the impact of the economy, new technologies, wars and the mining industry in transforming the landscape and living conditions on Earth.
In war stories, the forest often served as a shelter from the violence of the advancing troops. Currently, as a result of logging, the Earth has already lost half of its natural forests. The video recording took place in one of the few remaining European primaeval forests – the Carpathian forest on the border of Romania and Ukraine. It is a stretch where unique biodiversity has been destroyed by logging carried out by international corporations and corrupt local authorities. The disaster stricken area is the setting for a wandering lonely couple humming the famous anti-war song Where Have All the Flowers Gone? composed in 1955 by Peter Seeger. The author had borrowed the lyrics from a Cossack song. Later, the piece was modified and adapted in various languages of the world and played as a protest against armed conflicts. Hummed without words, the melody acquires a universal, transnational meaning, because it refers to the global war declared on life on Earth.
No Shelter from the Storm, 2015, HD video with sound, 5’43’’, courtesy of the artists and Ivan Gallery, Bucharest
Venue:
Muzeum Ziemi Lubuskiej, Al. Niepodległości 15