“THE LAND OF BEES” -the paradoxicality of ABSENCE and the execution of VACATION-
(2024)
author(s): Urška Medved
published in: Research Catalogue
The Land of Bees is the result of two and a half years of in-depth research exploring themes of vacation, rest, burnout, absence, work, and paradox. This project was developed as part of Urška Medved's Master's studies in the Contemporary Performative Arts program at HSM, University of Gothenburg.
Presented as an interactive document, The Land of Bees invites readers to engage with the research in a manner that reflects the very process through which the work was created.
How to Get Rid of Homophobia and Sexism in Your Country
(2024)
author(s): Darja Popolitova
published in: Research Catalogue
How to Get Rid of Homophobia and Sexism in Your Country is a performative video piece featuring the Drag Face Filter, created for the exhibition Magical Hotspot at Vent Space Gallery in 2020. The work explores pseudomagic through digital augmentation, performative rituals, and speculative identity transformations. In the video, the jewellery witch Seraphita applies a custom augmented reality (AR) face filter to official portraits of conservative politicians, digitally queering their faces with exaggerated drag features such as bold makeup and extravagant eyebrows. This act symbolises a ritual of resistance, challenging societal norms and confronting political authority through speculative digital adornment.
The piece employs Haptic Visuality, blending tactile digital manipulation with performative gestures. The act of scrolling and selecting filters with long, manicured fingernails becomes an embodied ritual, making the interface physically felt through close-up shots and dynamic interactions with the cracked phone screen. This multisensory approach transforms the Drag Face Filter into a charged pseudomagical artefact, blurring the boundaries between political critique, performance art, and speculative jewellery.
Idea and performance: Darja Popolitova
Video effects: Ando Naulainen
Sound: Andres Nõlvak
© Darja Popolitova
How to Get Rid of Loneliness
(2024)
author(s): Jewellery witch Seraphita
published in: Research Catalogue
"How to Get Rid of Loneliness" refers to a video artwork by Darja Popolitova featured in the Magical Hotspot exhibition at Vent Space Gallery in 2020. In the video, the jewellery witch Seraphita performs a ritual using the Seastone Necklace, a natural stone with a hole worn as a pendant. She taps its surface with her long nails, whispering affirmations as if typing messages on a phone screen. The necklace becomes a ritualistic tool for dispelling loneliness, symbolising a bridge between isolation and connection.
How to Integrate Yourself into Society
(2024)
author(s): Jewellery witch Seraphita
published in: Research Catalogue
"How to Integrate Yourself into Society" is a performative video piece featuring the Ethnic Brooch, created for the exhibition Magical Hotspot at Vent Space Gallery in 2020. The work explores pseudomagic through symbolic ritual and material interaction. In the video, the character Seraphita pricks her finger with the brooch’s needle, allowing blood to drip onto a cracked phone screen. This act symbolises a ritualistic attempt at integration, merging personal identity with digital and societal representations.
The piece employs haptic-visuality, emphasising the tactile experience of the brooch’s needle piercing the skin, creating a visceral connection for the viewer. Close-up shots and textural details enhance the sensory impact, making the act of penetration both symbolically and physically felt. This multisensory approach intensifies the emotional resonance of the ritual, transforming the brooch into a charged object within a speculative, magical context.
Odd New Spring: Towards Evolving Landscapes and a Reorientation in Design Practice (2024)
(2024)
author(s): Siren Elise Wilhelmsen
published in: Faculty of Fine Art, Music and Design, University of Bergen
"Odd New Spring: Towards Evolving Landscapes and a Reorientation in Design Practice" is an artistic research PhD project that explores methods for designers to engage with local environments, interdisciplinary communities, and professional fields in new ways. The project repositions unwanted plants, specifically Invasive Alien Plant Species, as a foundation for knowledge creation and new local activities. This approach challenges the perception of these plants as strictly agonistic and reframes them in the context of sustainability, production, and resource management. Through the artistic practice, the plants are connected to stories from the past and visions for the future, encouraging reflection on current classifications and relations.
The work culminated in the exhibition "Odd New Spring" at the University Museum in Bergen's Natural History Collections. Here, experimental artefacts, storytelling objects, interdisciplinary dialogues, and reflections point towards a new design position. The project envisions the designer as a bridge-builder across disciplines, fostering sustainable practices and coexistence within local landscapes.
Supervised by Mette L'orange (architect MNAL and visual artist) and Tim Parry-Williams (Professor of Art: Textiles, KMD).
Photo: Odd New Spring 2024, Siren Elise Wilhelmsen
testing Y1 RC function
(2024)
author(s): Hoai Tran
published in: Research Catalogue
This is a playground to explore RC function. I would like to use Abstract as a into/ summary for this expo.
