“Variations of Max”, 23 min, 2010, Helene Sommer
Harstad Kino, screen 2
We are showing a two-part retrospective programme of work by artist Helene Sommer. The work consits of selected films from the period 2007 – 2022. This is programme 2.
The programme will be introduced by the artist.
The Paradox of a Mayfly, 2019-22, 8 min
Variations of Max, 23 min. 2010.
Again, through the heart, 30 min. 2018/2022.
About the films:
Programme 2:
Døgnfluens paradoks (The Paradox of a Mayfly) takes as its starting point the architecture of a local cinema built in 1938 in Lofoten (Norway), in relation to the recollections of the building as a place and space. The institution has played a pivotal role in the lives of local youth for generations, sharing location with the townhall, but is nevertheless a marginalised part of local official history.
The project is about what the physical space of the cinema and the contradictory permanent presence of the ephemeral, reflects and produces.
Originally shown as an installation that was part of the exhibition “Homage and Diversion. Re-imagining a movie theatre” curated by Torill Østby Haaland, at NNKS (North Norwegian Art Centre) in 2019.
HD 8. min, 2019/ 2022
Variations of Max is a video montage narrating and intertwining the artist’s family history which goes back to Germany, with the universal history book “Syncronoptische Weltgeschichte” (Syncronoptical World history) and the biography of its author Arno Peters.
The “Syncronoptische Weltgeschichte” is used as a time-map to contextualize the family history, with imagery sampled from a range of places, all referenced in the book. Through archives, books, movies, news, footage, the use of a genealogist, memories, and pure speculations the stories are woven together. The voice-over is spoken by an elderly German woman (speaking English with a heavy Germany accent), rendering the artist as the protagonist and first person, fictional.
Dvd, 23 min, 2010. English.
Igjen gjennom hjertet (Again through the Heart) is based on an extensive archive of film, video, photos, and audio from the artist’s Uncle Steinar (1922-2018). The project takes as a starting point his persistent documentation of life and considers how this affected his biography, memory, and ways of seeing.
Steinar begun to photograph and film in the 1940s and continued ceaselessly throughout his life, despite his loss of sight the last few years. The archive (16mm, 8mm, super 8, VHS, Hi8, SD, HD) documents both daily life as well as important occasions. Steinar’s recordings are accompanied by conversations with him about his impuls and drive to document and reveal pivotal and tragic events that has influenced both his need to document and his approach towards the collected material. Steinar saw his eagerness to document as a neurosis and felt naked without a camera.
The project’s title is derived from the etymological origin of the word record. The Latin word recordari means to tell and to remember. Re means to return to the origin and to repeat. Core means heart.
HD, 30 min. 2018/ 2022. Norwegian w/English subtitles.