AV JORD ÄR DU KOMMEN - PILOT

Av jord är du kommen (Ashes to Ashes) - in development 2024

A mixed reality walk for graveyards by Marika Hedemyr & team

Researchers say they have finally found remnants of Theia, an ancient planet that collided with Earth to form the moon. No other parts of the planet have been found in the solar system. A new theory suggests that remnants of Theia are partially intact and buried beneath our feet.

Av jord är du kommen (Ashes to Ashes) is a personal experience and meditation on how we are all part of common cycles, a reflection on the legacy we leave behind when we once in the future are part of the Earth as soil again. It is a choreographic mixed reality work for cemeteries that creates reflection and sensory experiences of how we and our mobile devices are interconnected in the Earth's material cycle. The format is site-specific public art that utilizes immersive media and mobile-based augmented reality (AR) technology as a performance format.

A pilot for the work is created during 2024.
Premiere is planned to spring 2025.

Artistic Team

A work by Marika Hedemyr in collaboration with Untold Garden.

Artistic director, concept, script, voice: Marika Hedemyr
Creative Technologists: Jakob Skote, Untold Garden & Keith Lim
Sound artist: Helena Persson

Concept

A pressing issue today is how we manage the earth’s resources to create a sustainable future, and how we create respectful relationships for peaceful coexistence. In this work Marika Hedemyr tackles these issues artistically. The conceptual starting point is that the smallest ingredients that make up our mobile digital devices – minerals and matter that come from the earth, are also the building blocks of our human body. In such a perspective, the human body and the phone are one. This provides a perspective of infinity, geologic time, and recurring cycles of becoming. One of the few public places where the concrete relationship between bodies, earth and time can both be seen and felt, are graveyards. They are a borderland between the dead and the living, between sadness and hope, between stillness and activity. In the project Marika explores ways in which a mixed reality performance could take place at a graveyard and be both an individual and a collective experience. The intended audience is adults and youth.

A recurring theme in Marika’s practice is the relationship between the physical body and the body of society. In this work the body of the earth is also included. The project is part of the Element Series, a new series of mixed reality experiences that explore our co-existence with the planet earth through the elements earth, water, fire, and air. Av jord är du kommen is the first work in this series, addressing the element earth/soil.

Confirmed Funding & Residencies

Region Skåne Arts Council: finances the pilot in spring 2024 through a development grant.

Danscentrum Syd, Malmö: Residency december 2023.

Inter Arts Center (IAC) Malmö: Supports the project with studio and technology 2024. Marika Hedemyr is both visiting researcher at IAC while developing the pilot, and one of 11 selected artists in the program 123 Playtime.

Metropolis Copenhagen, international festival for site-specific art: 1 month’s residency in July 2024.

STPLN:LAB: Supports the project with working space. Marika Hedemyr is selected participant in their art incubator program maj 2024 - maj 2025.

Process

Friday 26 July 2024 at 14.30 at Holmens Kirkegård, Copenhagen: Presentation of a work-in-progress version.

Meeting point:  At the entrance to Holmens Kirkegård next to the chapel, address Upsalagade 25, 2100 København. Part of the artistic residency program at the international festival Metropolis, international festival for art and performance in public space.

30 May 2024 at 17-19 (drop in) at Gamla Kyrkogården, Malmö: Public presentation of a work-in-progress version.

At Gamla Kyrkogården, address Gustav Adolfs torg 3, 211 39 Malmö. Language: Swedish. We meet at the round opening with benches and the Milles sculpture, in the middle of the park. No need to sign up, just come by. The experience is about 30 minutes long. We will document the event and would love to hear your reflections and feedback.

Please prepare: 1) Bring your fully charged mobile and headphones. 2) On the same day, download the free app Meadow by Untold Garden from App Store or Google Play. 3) We will be outdoors and you will walk at your own pace, choose clothes and shoes according to the weather. Any questions? Just reach out to info@marikahedemyr.com