Edinburgh Fringe 2021
With-in
Xproarts (Norway)
Genre: Multimedia, Site-Specific
Venue: C venues / C ARTS digital
Festival: Edinburgh Fringe
Low Down
‘When I was a boy we used to have an ‘ala’ (niche) in our old house, where we will always put something, a picture of God, or a candle, or an oil lamp. Those spaces created bigger resonance in my consciousness, to a bigger universe than my small little world.’ How does one project emotion through the physicality of the limbs and torso? This new site-specific physical piece from Oslo-based duo Nora Svenning and Sudesh Adhana, with video art from Antero Hein and music from Adun Kleive, explores the expression of almost being a sculpture.
Review
A tall narrow wall with one square alcove is lit in teal light against a dark background. Slowly it all fades away and then returns with two alcoves, inhabited by two people crouching. What follows in this fifteen minute interlude is an intriguing exploration.
One, two, then three bodies are seemingly there, limbs folded and pressed against the confining walls of their restricted space. Interesting lighting and photography make the alcoves and bodies appear and reappear.
Visually, it looks dramatic and it is set to a musical soundscape featuring drumbeats and flutes at first, then it develops in a way that it appears to drive the development of the piece and builds curiosity in the viewer.
This is an intriguing piece with slow movement and spirited sound…trees merge into the imagery superimposed in purple and fade out…limbs change alcoves, carefully crossing over into another space…
Performers, Oslo-based duo Nora Svenning and Sudesh Adhana, together with beguiling video art from Antero Hein and fascinating music from Adun Kleiv have created an artistic piece that takes us away from our daily lives in this exploration. It’s effortless viewing and we may ask what the performers are doing and why, but there is a cycle here, and it knows when to conclude its brief life quite well.
