Catalogue > At random

The opening of the film «The Ceremony» shows the image from the title page of Olof Rudbeck the Elder’s «Atlantica» from 1679, were Rudbeck reveals Sweden as the sunken Atlantis. Written during the era of the Swedish Empire, the archaeological novel «Atlantica» is a marvel of non-specialization and heterogeneous connections, largely based on speculative etymologies and sound correspondences. In «The Ceremony», in a similar audacious manner, identities, histories and places appear and disappear: freed from reality’s hold, in layer upon layer of image, text and sound, like abandoned or yet to be built cities: Tutankhamen’s crypt and unbroken seal, Bredäng (suburb of Stockholm where the artists live), the strange entrance to the old Stasi headquarters in Berlin, other places, tombs and prisons. All connected by subterranean passages through which an alien time runs; incompatible, turning endlessly into itself.

Lina Selander (b. 1973) lives and works in Stockholm, Sweden. Lina Selanders work often focus on junctures in history where a system or physical place collapses and something new begins to emerge; the narrative of mechanical cinema giving way to that of digital video, or a political or economic system plummeting into a new one. Her works revolve around images as memories, imprints and representations. Selander’s work has been shown at Iniva (Institute of International Visual Arts), London; Index – The Swedish Contemporary Art Foundation, Stockholm; Moderna Museet, Stockholm; VOX - Centre de l’image contemporaine, Montré al and in international group shows such as the Venice Biennale 2015; Kyiv Biennale 2015; Seoul Media City Biennale 2014; Manifesta 2012 in Genk, Belgium; Bucharest Biennale 2010; and at Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin.Oscar Mangione (b. 1971) works with Lina Selander and has participated with her in several exhibitions. From 2006 to 2012 he edited and wrote for the magazine and art project Geist and took part in numerous exhibitions, performances and projects in venues such as the Reykjavík Arts Festival, the Museum of Modern Art in Stockholm and the Venice Biennale.