From Magma to Mankind 2020

Description:

In the lecture performance Egill Sæbjörnsson stands at a desk and talks, using images and sound that are projected onto a screen besides him. The work has also been shown in exhibitions as the standalone video.

Thoughts regarding the work:

“We come from magma, not single cells,” is a foundational statement from Egill Sæbjörnsson, which he in a quirky, humorous, and poetical way uses as a basis for the video From Magma to Mankind. The work is originally a performance-lecture, where Sæbjörnsson in his peculiar and playful way proposes that we eradicate the distinction between organic and inorganic matter. If we see ourselves as the descendants of lava, rather than descendants of single-celled organisms, we can relate our family ties to inanimate matter. By erasing the line between living and dead materials, we create a new scope on the Universe we live in.

Egill Sæbjörnsson is interested in the relationships between mental and physical activities; between what we think and what is happening in the world around us and in this case how thought and physicality derives from the same origin. He often uses elements such as humour and music to open up interpretation at different levels. Sæbjörnsson sees artworks as a separate species, which has lived alongside humans, side by side, and which has created us just as much as we have created art. Play, fantasy and creation of worlds is an important subject in his art and with a playful approach, he celebrates this creative force and the relationship between humans and their surroundings. Sæbjörnsson is known for his video installations, which often consist of physical objects combined with projections and sound. His works are also often performative, and include both music, concerts, video, and performance-lectures.

Artwork Information:

Title: From Magma to Mankind

Year: 2020

Materials: Video. Text, drawings, animations and sound.

Dimensions: Variable

Duration: 18 minutes

Exhibition history:

Intertwingled. The Role of the Rug in Arts, Crafts and Design. Galleria Nazionale di Roma. Cur: Martí Guixé & Inga Knölke. Rome. Italy. 2022

I am a multitude. North Norwegian Art Center. Cur: Karolin Tampere. Norway. 2021

Gallery am Körnerpark Berlin. From Magma to Mankind. Cur: Maria & Natalia Petschatnikov. Berlin. Germany. 2021

From Magma to Mankind. Lecture Performance about the origin of humans. Cur: Julia Katharina Thiemann. DasHaus. Ludwigshafen. Germany. 2020

Categories:

Lecture Performance

Publications