Rakett decided to make this show in two parts, one at the exhibition space connected to the Estonian Art Academy (part I) and the second at one of the oldest concert and club venues in Tallinn, Von Kraahli Baar (part II). Both events were connected to ideas around romantic desperateness and loneliness. By inviting different kinds of artists and bands with varying expressions in visual art and music, we thought it would be interesting approaches and interpretations of this theme.
Sweetmeat 1 (2004), detail, installation by Marte Johnslien, ©Marte Johnslien
Sweetmeat 1 and Sweetmeat 2 (2004), installation by Marte Johnslien, ©Marte Johnslien
Sweetmeat 1 (2004), detail, installation by Marte Johnslien, ©Marte Johnslien
Sweetmeat 1 and Sweetmeat 2 (2004), installation by Marte Johnslien, ©Marte Johnslien
Sweetmeat 2 (2004), detail, installation by Marte Johnslien, ©Marte Johnslien
Still from Moderne Menn (2004), video Sverre Strandberg, ©Sverre Strandberg
Still from Moderne Menn (2004), video Sverre Strandberg, ©Sverre Strandberg
Still from Moderne Menn (2004), video Sverre Strandberg, ©Sverre Strandberg
Still from Moderne Menn (2004), video Sverre Strandberg, ©Sverre Strandberg
Still from Moderne Menn (2004), video Sverre Strandberg, ©Sverre Strandberg
Still from Moderne Menn (2004), video Sverre Strandberg, ©Sverre Strandberg
Still from Exit Café (2004), video Sverre Strandberg, ©Sverre Strandberg
Still from Exit Café (2004), video Sverre Strandberg, ©Sverre Strandberg
Still from Exit Café (2004), video Sverre Strandberg, ©Sverre Strandberg
Still from Disguises (2001), video Marius Mørch, ©Marius Mørch
Still from Disguises (2001), video Marius Mørch, ©Marius Mørch
Still from Disguises (2001), video Marius Mørch, ©Marius Mørch
Still from Billboard View (2004), video Line Helen Danielsen, ©Line Helen Danielsen
Still from Billboard View (2004), video Line Helen Danielsen, ©Line Helen Danielsen
Still from Billboard View (2004), video Line Helen Danielsen, ©Line Helen Danielsen
Performance Monica Winther with Center of the Universe, ©the artists
Performance Monica Winther with Center of the Universe, ©the artists
Performance Monica Winther with Center of the Universe, ©the artists
Performance Monica Winther with Center of the Universe, ©the artists
Flyer for the exhibition and concert
Still from Exit Café (2004), video Sverre Strandberg, ©Sverre Strandberg
Performance Monica Winther with Center of the Universe, ©the artists
The sentence “Darling don’t leave me all by myself” is actually borrowed from a pop song made by Moby. This sentence is used in the chorus of a simple, but beautiful, tearing-your-heart-apart-love song. The expression is universal in all means, we can all relate to this desperate fear of being left alone. In this case not only by a lover, but also that “big everything else” that is affecting important parts of our lives. But in many situations we’re also supposed to “kill our darlings”, which is terribly difficult in many ways. The works we have chosen to this project are all different in expression, but we have focused on the turn to romanticism in contemporary art. Alongside a search for reality and an emphasis on art that refers to the political, there is also a room for emotions and seduction in today’s contemporary art.
Darling, don’t leave me all by myself (part I)
EKA Gallery, Tallinn, Estonia, opening at 8pm, 2. April 2004
The exhibition will be open just for one night!
The participating artists:
Sverre Strandberg: videos Moderne Menn (2004) and Exit Café (2004)
Riggelwerk: concert, artist Sverre Strandberg
Line Helen Danielsen: video, Wartime (2004)
Marte Johnslien: installation/sculpture, especially produced for this exhibition
Monica Winther & Centre of the Universe: performance and improvised live music
Marius Mörch: video, Disguises (2001)
About the works
Sweetmeat 1 and Sweetmeat 2
by Marte Johnslien
Sweetmeat 1 consists of coloured pieces of sponge that form a flame-shaped, floating figure. A quiet, visual disturbance in the room. Sweetmeat 2 consists of domestic items such as a lampshade, a table-leg and a glass jar that have been transformed into violent objects by simple means. The installation deals with motivation for destructive acts linked with desperation. It could be the housewife’s horrific revenge, if you want, or simply the result of the suppressed fantasies of a sadist.
Exit Café (2002), Super 8, 6:50 min
by Sverre Strandberg
In this video the main character struggles against the perishable time. He is in a strange place: A café where you could travel physically back in time, while still being in the present time. The main character goes to re-experience the most dazzling moments in his childhood after eating a luxury dinner. The stage is built on a concept colors related to intimacy. These are based on the artist’s memory of certain early childhood years. Rooms are placed behind each other so that you can se through them (when they are lit up). The inner red room is birth and bedtime, the green room is dressing and Christmas Eve, the yellow room is playing and knowledge and the blue room is the present time, with the view of the rooms of memory in the background.
Modern Men (2002) Video, 1:47 min
by Sverre Strandberg
After making the short film Exit Café Strandberg wanted to recycle the scenery and do something else with it, other than complaining over facts that are unchangeable. In Modern Men we see two men exercise some kind of softness: They are carrying flowers while doing dancing activities. This human quality is mixed with an experiment in form: In the beginning and in the end there is slow motion, while in the middle there is super fast motion. So the title suggests both a formalistic and a sociological approach.
Sverre Strandberg aka Riggelwerk also participated with a mini sound art concert during the opening night of the exhibition.
“Billboard View” (2002). video
by Line Helen Danielsen
The video contains images of a young woman posing in front of the camera, consisting of stills taken from the video “The Girl with many faces – WARTIME” (2002). The earlier version contains a monologue in which the woman uses the powerful language of George W. Bush’ speech after 11. September 2001, where he leans heavily on parables from the bible. She uses it however in her own way and thus invents completely new meanings. The still picture version is less direct, but it still brings about the despairing anger that the woman radiates. The surroundings are somewhat theatrical, being shot in a dark pool room and almost exclusively in colours of red, black and white. The title “Billboard View” refers to the tradition if placards and posters in commercials, powerful but simple pictures trying to catch your gaze.
Performance (2004)
by Monica Winther & Centre of the Universe
The performance is based on a certain aesthetic deriving from the illusory way of how life is depicted on television and in glossy magazines. They are about escapism, and the wish to live inside the television set. Though in Winther’s performances the illusion is turned inside out and the enacted Barbie princess dream is turned into its darker self, with the protagonist ending up in a billiard joint, with cigarettes and strong liquor. The Prince never arrived, and there were only lewd drunkards left.
Disguises (2001), video
by Marius Mørch
The video is composed by edited footage from cult films such as Accattone by Pasolini (1961), Night of the Living Dead by Romero (1968), The Evil Dead by Raimi (1983), Dracula by Browning (1931). The constructed narration follows a woman as she is chased, terrified and finally carried into the abyss of the forest. The sound is the soft and romantic Elvis song Can’t help falling in Love which creates a tension with these dark, classical horror images.
“Darling, don’t leave me all by myself (part II)”
Concert at Von Krahli Baar, Tallinn, Estonia, 4. April 2004
With participating musicians:
Terje Øverås (No)
Centre of the Universe (No)
Aurora Plastic Monster (No)
Nostation (Est)
Hello Countryclub (No)
Catalogue published in 2005: “Darling don’t leave me all by myself”
Travel support given by National Academy of Fine Arts in Bergen and Office for Contemporary Art Norway. Rakett would like to thank Karin Lansoo at EKA Gallery and everyone at Von Kraahli Baar. Thank you also to Andres Löo, and Mikk Tammepöld (from the band No Station) for all the practical help to realize part II.
