Kjesty
This installation uses familiar components that, through recognition, can draw the viewer into the world of childhood memories: bedtime songs and stories, dreams and nightmares: things we wished for and things we were afraid of: the dreams we once had that we have forgotten and the dreams that remain with us.
"Kjesty" is a video/sound installation placed in a space of 1.60m/4.00m. There are two TV monitors on top of each other. Only the screens are visible through cut-outs in the back wall of the installation. The top screen shows a looped video of the shadow of an old-fashioned toy (a man on a bicycle) swinging back and forth in a long curve along the walls of a bedroom. The bottom screen shows a looping video of a girl climbing a ladder to swing on a trapeze. She swings, flies, is caught by the male acrobat on the swing and comes back down with a smile on her face. The source for this video is a Super 8 film. The two videos are synchronised. The lower video provides the sound for the installation. The sound comes from a speaker suspended from the ceiling of the installation. We hear a Dat recording of a music box playing 'Brahm's Wiegenlied'. Beneath this speaker is a bedside table with a small wooden box on it. Inside the box is the music box, which is the original source of the sound. The music box is one that has to be operated by hand. The sound has been recorded to synchronise with the video of the girl on the trapeze. It begins with the clicking sound of the handle being turned. The music starts as she climbs up the ladder. The music is timed to the video so that the song ends when she is back on the ground. The sound was recorded live to the video for five loops, and then looped onto the video tape. This way of recording the sound live slightly changes the speed and rhythm of the song for each looped sequence of video. Due to the live recording and the nature of this music box (which has to be operated by hand), there is an inaccuracy in the timing of the sound to the video. This makes the sound, although repetitive, always different in speed, rhythm, etc., giving the impression that it is being played live to the video in the space.The positioning of the loudspeaker undermines this impression: it is built almost invisibly into the ceiling above the box, and the sound travels down on it. The music box is locked inside the wooden box and cannot be opened or operated by anyone.
Upon entering the installation, the viewer is confronted with a dreamlike poetic imagery. The sound, Brahm's Wiegenlied, is familiar to the viewer. However, because it is a very clear recording of the music box played through a loudspeaker, it is very different from its original character. It is much louder than the sound of a music box would normally be. It can be beautiful and disturbing at the same time.
Material:
2 Monitors, 2 Video Players, Amplifier, Speakers, Table, Box, Music Box