X                                      


   

Stereo sound, 38’06’’, 2021.
Collaboration with Loke Berg.
Commissioned by Raumdeuter Radio, for GIBCA extended. More info here 



2021

X, is a sonic montage work, by Mariella Otto & Loke Berg, produced for city bus line 25 in Gothenburg; Linnéplatsen  Länsmansgården, by invitation of Raumdeuter Radio, curated by Joe Rowley, as a part of GIBCA, 2021. Using voices, ambience and music – X appropriates sound in line with cinematographic traditions and storytelling. A fragmented narrative with subjects, such as ‘The act of naming’, ‘ A sense of belonging’ and ‘Illusions of arrival’, are presented in Swedish, Arabic and English, where the concept of ‘a dark science’ is held central. The work establishes analogies between a politicised ‘west’ and the characteristics and aesthetics of a ‘wild west’, aiming to raise questions on ethical compromise and lawlessness embedded in capitalism and ideals of modernity. Departing from historic events and characters -in knowledge production, scientific evolution and colonialism- the piece connects to points on its designated route, for instance, referencing Carl Linnaeus and his questionable work on the human species, as well as the Swedish East India Company. The title has its source in the story about ‘Photo 51’; the first X-ray diffraction image of DNA fiber, taken by Rosalind Franklin in 1952. Channelled through speech and evocative sound scapes, the scientific history of genealogy, ideas on collective history and thoughts on belonging, interlace with a story of the protagonist “cowboy”, an individualist – deemed to eventually face the end.







Imgaes; Modified image from Rosalind Franklins ‘Photo 51’(1952) //  

Sound residency, ‘Land 404’, Jämjö, Sweden.   
 
                                                                                 








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