"For after all, what is man in nature? Nothing in respect of infinity, everything in respect of non-existence, placed midway between nothing and everything." – Blaise Pascal
The Thinking Reed
"Man is only a reed, the weakest in nature; but he is a thinking reed..." – Blaise Pascal.
“When you are a Bear of Very Little Brain, and you Think of Things, you find sometimes that a Thing which seemed very Thingish inside you is quite different when it gets out into the open and has other people looking at it.” ― Winnie The Pooh
The Thinking Reed was a collaboration with Lithuanian artist Meile Sposmanyte.It was a site-specific video installation created for Kedelhallen, Nordkraft in Aalborg and located in the glass partitions covering former coal shafts in the former power station.
We drew our inspiration partly from the building's previous function as a power centre, transforming coal into energy as heat, and partly from its current function as a cultural centre. The work examines the role of culture in accessing profound aspects of existential thinking via the intermediary of narratives and artistic devices. We set two approaches side by side. The first was the writings of the French mathematician and philosopher Blaise Pascal and the second was the character of Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne. Both works contemplate the human condition and the variety of responses to unanswerable questions of existence and time, but they both take a profoundly different approach. We based our work on the Danish expression "At være i kulkælderen", literally translated "to be in the coal cellar", which means to be very depressed or in a state of emotional or existential crisis. This fitted in well with the location of the work, literally in the former coal shafts of the former power station
Blaise Pascal's work "Pensees /Thoughts" examined mankind's relationship to God and the universe. He did so by effectively drawing his readers into a state of existential crisis, inviting them to join him in the ”coal cellar” to contemplate the infinitely large and the infinitely small and urging them to locate themselves in the context of both extremes. He wrote movingly of the wonder that human beings experience when contemplating these extremes and concluded that the natural response would be for mankind to locate itself in the middle ground between these two infinities.
In A.A. Milne's Winnie the Pooh stories, the characters stumble along through life with their own practical approaches to dealing with the minutiae of existence. They do so in a community of other, very different characters, and it is in this community that we see the individual's ability to compensate for their own shortcomings and vulnerabilities.
We advertised for volunteers to take part in a recorded reading of the works of respectively Blaise Pascal and A.A Milne and we filmed their responses to the texts that were shown on the screens. For the Pascal text participants were asked to enter the room one at a time, but for the Milne there were no restrictions on how many people could be in the room listening to the text at one time.
The results were projected onto the bases of the coal shafts and showed a surprising range of responses and connections – not least in the form of virtual connections to people outside the rooms via mobile media.
"Man is only a reed, the weakest in nature; but he is a thinking reed..." – Blaise Pascal.
“When you are a Bear of Very Little Brain, and you Think of Things, you find sometimes that a Thing which seemed very Thingish inside you is quite different when it gets out into the open and has other people looking at it.” ― Winnie The Pooh
The Thinking Reed was a collaboration with Lithuanian artist Meile Sposmanyte.It was a site-specific video installation created for Kedelhallen, Nordkraft in Aalborg and located in the glass partitions covering former coal shafts in the former power station.
We drew our inspiration partly from the building's previous function as a power centre, transforming coal into energy as heat, and partly from its current function as a cultural centre. The work examines the role of culture in accessing profound aspects of existential thinking via the intermediary of narratives and artistic devices. We set two approaches side by side. The first was the writings of the French mathematician and philosopher Blaise Pascal and the second was the character of Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne. Both works contemplate the human condition and the variety of responses to unanswerable questions of existence and time, but they both take a profoundly different approach. We based our work on the Danish expression "At være i kulkælderen", literally translated "to be in the coal cellar", which means to be very depressed or in a state of emotional or existential crisis. This fitted in well with the location of the work, literally in the former coal shafts of the former power station
Blaise Pascal's work "Pensees /Thoughts" examined mankind's relationship to God and the universe. He did so by effectively drawing his readers into a state of existential crisis, inviting them to join him in the ”coal cellar” to contemplate the infinitely large and the infinitely small and urging them to locate themselves in the context of both extremes. He wrote movingly of the wonder that human beings experience when contemplating these extremes and concluded that the natural response would be for mankind to locate itself in the middle ground between these two infinities.
In A.A. Milne's Winnie the Pooh stories, the characters stumble along through life with their own practical approaches to dealing with the minutiae of existence. They do so in a community of other, very different characters, and it is in this community that we see the individual's ability to compensate for their own shortcomings and vulnerabilities.
We advertised for volunteers to take part in a recorded reading of the works of respectively Blaise Pascal and A.A Milne and we filmed their responses to the texts that were shown on the screens. For the Pascal text participants were asked to enter the room one at a time, but for the Milne there were no restrictions on how many people could be in the room listening to the text at one time.
The results were projected onto the bases of the coal shafts and showed a surprising range of responses and connections – not least in the form of virtual connections to people outside the rooms via mobile media.
Det tænkede siv
En installation til Kedelhallen, Nordkraft af Inge Tranter og Meile Sposmanyte
"Mennesket er et siv, de svageste i naturen, men han er et siv der tænker..." – Blaise Pascal.
“Når du er en bjørn med meget lille hjerne, og sommetider tænker på ting, der virkede meget trist inde i dig, er helt anderledes, når den kommer ud i det åbne og når andre mennesker at kigge på det.” ― Peter Plys
Det tænkende siv er en stedsspecifik installation, skabt til Kedelhallen på Nordkraft i Aalborg, og helt specifikt til de glaspartier der dækker det der engang var kulskakterne i det gamle kraftværk. Inspirationen til værket er flerartet: Dels bygningens tidligere funktion hvor kul blev forvandlet til fjernvarme, dels det gamle danske udtryk "at være helt i kulkælderen" om at være nedtrykt, eller ligefrem i en mindre eksistentiel krise. Og så var vi i høj grad inspireret af den franske matematiker og filosof Blaise Pascal - en dybt religiøs person, der i hovedværket Pensées (Tanker) udgivet i 1669 undersøger menneskets forhold til Gud og universet. Hvad han reelt gør her, er at bringe læseren ind i en sådan eksistentiel krise ... eller i overført forstand; han inviterer dem en tur i kulkælderen for at tænke over begrebet uendelighed. Fra stjernerne og himmelrummets ubegrænsede udstrækning ned til de mindste organismer og beder dem om at definere sig selv i forhold til de to yderpunkter. Han skriver meget bevægende om den åbenbaring mennesket oplever når det overvejer disse ekstremer, og konkluderer at den naturlige reaktion vil være for en person at placere sig midt mellem de to uendeligheder. Der står bl.a. "For hvad er altså mennesket i naturen? Det er intet i forhold til det uendeligt store, det er alt i forhold til det uendeligt små, et midtpunkt mellem intet og alt" – med andre ord, så er menneskehedens største ressource vores evne til at tænke og forsøge at forstå. Den sidste store inspirationskilde er A.A. Milne og hans historier om Peter Plys. Fortællingerne har før været genstand for en serie af bogudgivelser, der knytter karaktererne herfra og deres indbyrdes roller ind i en større filosofisk kontekst. Figurerne i bøgerne tumler nemlig gennem livet med deres helt særegne, men lavpraktiske tilgang til det at eksistere, og de gør det i fællesskab med, og i afhængighed af andre. Det er netop i det fællesskab vi ser et billede på den enkeltes evne for at kompensere for egne fejl og mangler. Vi har filmet frivillige deltagere imens de kigger på en skærm med oplæsning af henholdsvis Blaise Pascal og A.A Milne og forholder sig til teksten. I Pascals tilfælde blev deltagerne bedt om kun at være en person i rummet af gangen, hvorimod der hos Milne ikke var nogle begrænsninger. Resultatet bliver vist med en projektor på bunden af kulskakterne, og fremstår som en mangfoldig palette af forskellige former for interageren og forbindelser - fx også via mobiltelefon til folk der befinder sig andetsteds.
En installation til Kedelhallen, Nordkraft af Inge Tranter og Meile Sposmanyte
"Mennesket er et siv, de svageste i naturen, men han er et siv der tænker..." – Blaise Pascal.
“Når du er en bjørn med meget lille hjerne, og sommetider tænker på ting, der virkede meget trist inde i dig, er helt anderledes, når den kommer ud i det åbne og når andre mennesker at kigge på det.” ― Peter Plys
Det tænkende siv er en stedsspecifik installation, skabt til Kedelhallen på Nordkraft i Aalborg, og helt specifikt til de glaspartier der dækker det der engang var kulskakterne i det gamle kraftværk. Inspirationen til værket er flerartet: Dels bygningens tidligere funktion hvor kul blev forvandlet til fjernvarme, dels det gamle danske udtryk "at være helt i kulkælderen" om at være nedtrykt, eller ligefrem i en mindre eksistentiel krise. Og så var vi i høj grad inspireret af den franske matematiker og filosof Blaise Pascal - en dybt religiøs person, der i hovedværket Pensées (Tanker) udgivet i 1669 undersøger menneskets forhold til Gud og universet. Hvad han reelt gør her, er at bringe læseren ind i en sådan eksistentiel krise ... eller i overført forstand; han inviterer dem en tur i kulkælderen for at tænke over begrebet uendelighed. Fra stjernerne og himmelrummets ubegrænsede udstrækning ned til de mindste organismer og beder dem om at definere sig selv i forhold til de to yderpunkter. Han skriver meget bevægende om den åbenbaring mennesket oplever når det overvejer disse ekstremer, og konkluderer at den naturlige reaktion vil være for en person at placere sig midt mellem de to uendeligheder. Der står bl.a. "For hvad er altså mennesket i naturen? Det er intet i forhold til det uendeligt store, det er alt i forhold til det uendeligt små, et midtpunkt mellem intet og alt" – med andre ord, så er menneskehedens største ressource vores evne til at tænke og forsøge at forstå. Den sidste store inspirationskilde er A.A. Milne og hans historier om Peter Plys. Fortællingerne har før været genstand for en serie af bogudgivelser, der knytter karaktererne herfra og deres indbyrdes roller ind i en større filosofisk kontekst. Figurerne i bøgerne tumler nemlig gennem livet med deres helt særegne, men lavpraktiske tilgang til det at eksistere, og de gør det i fællesskab med, og i afhængighed af andre. Det er netop i det fællesskab vi ser et billede på den enkeltes evne for at kompensere for egne fejl og mangler. Vi har filmet frivillige deltagere imens de kigger på en skærm med oplæsning af henholdsvis Blaise Pascal og A.A Milne og forholder sig til teksten. I Pascals tilfælde blev deltagerne bedt om kun at være en person i rummet af gangen, hvorimod der hos Milne ikke var nogle begrænsninger. Resultatet bliver vist med en projektor på bunden af kulskakterne, og fremstår som en mangfoldig palette af forskellige former for interageren og forbindelser - fx også via mobiltelefon til folk der befinder sig andetsteds.
"For after all, what is man in nature? Nothing in respect of infinity, everything in respect of non-existence, placed midway between nothing and everything." – Blaise Pascal