LOLITA FOR ALTID
The one we always want to be, the one we are always put in a booth like, and the one we are forever going to turn our backs on?
1.6.20
7.6.20
HAUT x Bikubenfonden Pop Up Residency
> residency period from 01.06.-07.06.2020
> residency period from 15.06.-21.06.2020
The Artistic Research
We wish with Lolita For Altid to do a study that drips with the juices of youth and explodes into an orgastic rebellion against the role.
Innocence is fleeting, it slips out between our fingers and is replaced by sorrow for what was lost. We are only Lolita for a short while of our lives. Lolita is the side of us that exploits its sexuality, charm and youthfulness for better jobs, free drinks and better housing. On the other hand is Lolita vulnerable and defenseless and an easy victim of being taken advantage of. Her only defense is her sweetness and laugh. Wherefore repulsed we also love her, when we have outgrown her, and when we meet her in others, and consider her perceived naivety and studied coquetry, we think that we have become wiser, all while the rest of the world cannot get enough of her.
How can we possibly ever be free individuals when, as women, from the time we are children, we are bombarded by media, films and advertisements that virtually indoctrinate an entire gender into feeling that all they should strive for is, eternal youth and “natural” beauty? Who is strong enough to resist? Why do we pursue an ideal of beauty that mimics a deeply problematic figure who is, on the one hand, a child and, on the other, a sexual figure? She has even put a name to an inflatable sex doll, which is a physical metaphor for Lolita being passive, silent, and created for the enjoyment of others.
We will talk about the concept of the young girl and explore her voice from the inside. We find it problematic that the young girl is a visually extremely strong figure in our society and in fiction, but that she is always silent. Her story is told and the defense is second. While we still can - and age doesn't run from us - we want to talk the young girl's case and explore her voice from the inside.
It is important that as women and young girls (and more young men are likely to identify with the figure), we reflect on the position to which we are raised by society and capitalism, without being in conflict with other positions. We need to mirror ourselves, laugh at ourselves and recognize all the mistakes we make. This is best done in the company of others and not alone.
The artists
HOW TO KILL A DOG is the duo consisting of Emma Sehested Høeg and Jennifer Vedsted Christiansen
How to kill a dog (HTKAD) is an artist duo that we founded in May 2019. With HTKAD, we want to create a place where, through our performing arts, we can kill the dog in ourselves — the dog that constantly wants to please, to be loyal and to be loved. We work to expand the possibilities of the performing arts, both in terms of expression and composition. We work to explore the collective work process, where we start from our own lives and problems, and we often look for collaborators who have their work in artistic areas other than performing arts. First of all, we experience the theater as a sexy and party-filled place, where you get the desire to dance, fill up and especially discuss the issues that the performance is concerned with. In our projects, we work to break down the relationship with the audience, to fit other artistic expressions into our work, and to explore how the work can live on outside the time and place in which it is unfolded.
The format
HAUT x Bikubenfonden Pop Up Residency
LOLITA FOR ALTID is part of HAUT x Bikubenfonden Pop Up Residency, which is a test r of the studio residency format and is aimed at the independent performing artists in the field of cross-aesthetic performing arts. The artists are offered a residency of up to 4 weeks, w the opportunity for sparring from selected feedback partners, focusing on how artistic feedback can strengthen a project's further development.
HAUT x Bikubenfonden Pop Up Residency takes place in Copenhagen, where one floor of Fondenes Hus is furnished studio with dance vinyl and a simple technique package. The overall development course aims to investigate what are the needs for residencies and how a studio residency can qualify artistic development.