“In this work, the Copenhagen- and Bergen-based, Colombian artist delves into a theoretical cultural and mythological link between Norway and Azerbaijan through a massive installation of a pavilion created at the intersection of three elements: Jorge Luis Borges’s 1945 short story “The Aleph,” about an eponymous point in space through which everything in the universe can be seen simultaneously the Norse mythology of the wise god Mimir, whose severed head serves as a guide for Odin and the writings of Norwegian ethnographer Thor Heyerdahl, who hypothesized that the Scandinavian people originated from what is now Azerbaijan, based on what appear to be ancient rock carvings of Viking ships throughout the country. Yarat Contemporary Art Space, Baku (c. Suad Garayeva Maleki) / 2019įrom review by Leslie Ann Gray for Art Asia Pacific
The music is composed after research on musical figures that allegedly evidence links between distant parts of the world.Įxhibition Catalogue, produced by YARAT, Courtesy of the Artist
The central text in the sound element is an adaptation of Norse mythology, Heyerdahl’s writings and Jorge Luis Borges’ story The Aleph which tells of an object where one can see every place on earth at the same time. Sleipnir refers to the god Odin’s eight-legged horse, which might actually refer to a ship. Sleipnir draws from the contested theories of the Norwegian migratory theorist and pseudoscientist Thor Heyerdahl, who claimed that Scandinavians descend from people near the Caspian region, in what today is Azerbaijan. Steel spheres throughout the space knock constantly on the walls and pavilion by use of electromagnets. The displacement of layers of the pavilion makes for slivers of light to appear, move and combine.
As a soundtrack (voice and music) begins to play, eight performers execute a 12 minute-long action by moving segments of the structure from the outside. Audiences enter an octagonal, pavilion-like structure and sit in dark, semi-private spaces.
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