Den anden
The body opens and “the Other” begins to seep in
23.4.21
19.4.21
Indre By Kulturhus
Residence at Indre By Kulturhus: 19.04-23.04.2021
The Artistic Research
“The Other” (Den anden) is a scenic study of the specious state of love. With the study, Freya Sif Hestnes and Katrine Elise Leth Nielsen will expose the physical, complex and ambiguous nature of love through a chaotic and maximalist language in which tenderness and violence coexist.
In the artistic study, a love nightmare in which the artists, heavily inspired by the horror genre and Niki de Saint Phalle's “Shooting Paintings”, are interested in how the being of love and the being of anxiety are closely related.
Freya and Katrine will in their investigations at HAUT Pop Up Residency take a choreographic starting point in how they physically react to the intimate encounter. They will focus on how the body opens and how “The Other” slowly begins to seep in, digging small holes, laying eggs and leaving behind traces.
the artists
The collaboration between stage designer and visual artist Freya Sif Hestnes and actress and stage designer Katrine Elise Leth Nielsen takes an interest in the cross-aesthetic section performing arts. Together they explore how humour, sadness and aesthetics can fuse into a biographical and real-life expression.
Freya Sif Hestnes
Freya Sif Hestnes has a background in both scenography and fine art photography and work in the intersection between the two disciplines. Whether staging performances or creating stage designs, she integrates elements from visual art and photography. Likewise, when working on exhibitions, she applies scenographic principles of staging and spatial composition.
She often works with video and projection, navigating a dialogue between physical materials and conceptual ideas in an intuitive process. Her projects - whether for exhibitions or performances - are always acts of staging, rooted in documentary or autobiographical realities. She is drawn to reality, reshaping and deconstructing it to reassemble it in new ways - offering fresh perspectives on our shared world.
Her set designs are organic and processual, typically integrating objects and materials to create temporary scenic tableaus. These often balance between beauty and the notion of something grotesque or repulsive.
She views visual elements as powerful tools of influence. She constantly questions their effect: Do they seduce? Is that the right approach? What impact does visual storytelling have on an audience? These questions drive her exploration of scenography, art, and their role in shaping perception.
The residency
With Pop Up Residency HAUT wishes to experiment with the framework of artistic residencies. For the first time, groups of artists will work side by side, thus opening up the possibility that artistic synergy can be created in these meetings.
HAUT Pop Up Residency is a residency format that allows artists to immerse themselves in their artistic process by providing salary and material budget as well as facilitating internal worksharings and feedback conversations with a self-selected sparring partner.
The artistic study “The Other” by Freya Sif Hestnes and Katrine Elise Leth Nielsen is invited to be part of HAUT Pop Up Residency by HAUT's artistic director Naja Lee Jensen.
HAUT Pop Up Residency has been created in cooperation with the Performing Arts Development Platform and DIT:KBH and is supported by the Bikubenfonden.