Emily Jones. Pr photo.
Press release, December 2021
We are happy to invite you to Antarctica from Space, a performance series and concert by artist Emily Jones, developed for and with Primer.
Antarctica from Space takes as its starting point a body of research into a branch of international law called the Common Heritage of Mankind. The areas protected by these laws - the deep sea bed, Antarctica, the moon and outer space - cannot be owned by any one nation but must rather be held in trust for future generations. The Common Heritage of Mankind is treated as a concept law because there is not an existing framework to actualize it 'on the ground'. To realise these laws would require a radical reimagining of who we are together and our responsibility to those who are not here yet.
The work approaches such a reimagining during three lunchtime performances in the main hall of the headquarter of Aquaporin. Actors Marika Hibo Farah, Maja Pedersen and Cecilie Reshide Møller will carry out readings and actions written and directed by Emily Jones in a scenographic set-design by Lucas Melkane that transforms between each performance. The series takes "the harvest" (in this case a large pile of linseeds) as a focal point and draws in language from homeopathic provings, trauma processing, legal texts and personal experience.
The evening concert will take place across several locations on Aquaporin’s premises. Imagined as a wordless picture book in 6 short acts and based on the Greek idea of the chorus, it works with the notion that language is never neutral and posits 'tell me you're crying without telling me you're crying'. The concert is developed by Union for Open Vocalism based on a score by Emily Jones and Mandus Ridefelt.
Antarctica from Space
Emily Jones – With Marika Hibo Farah, Maja Pedersen, Cecilie Reshide Møller and Union for Open Vocalism (Arthur Carlander, Ani Bigum Kampe, Francesca Burattelli, Henriette Motzfeldt, Jacob Kaarsberg, Helene Norup Due, Victor Emil Kassebeer). Set design by Lucas Melkane. Score by Mandus Ridefelt.
Exhibition period: April 6 – May 18, 2022.
Lunchtime performances will take place on:
[HERBIES] – 6th April, 12.30 (starting time)
[LEAFIES] – 13th May, 12.30 (starting time)
[ROOTIES] – 17th May, 12.30 (starting time)
Evening concert will take place on:
[ANTARCTICA FROM SPACE] – 18th May, 20.00 (starting time)
Primer is a platform for artistic and organizational development. It is located in the headquarters of Aquaporin, a global water technology company. The collaboration with Emily Jones is part of a program of long-term developmental processes with artists.
Thanks for generous support to this project from Bikuben Foundation, Det Obelske Familiefond, The Augustinus Foundation, The Danish Arts Foundation and SVFK Danish Art Workshops. Thank you to Steen Forsmann from DTU – Technical University of Denmark, Matilde Böcher and Lotte Andersen.