Varialambo | (Re)configuring Territories (Germany, Finland)

// BIO 

varialambo (Varia Sjöström and Hatz Lambo*1980) is an interdisciplinary artist-duo  whose vision is to create a world where talking about violence is possible without  repeating the painful experience. Using the tradition of post-traumatic  expressionism, futuristic feminism, and absurd comedy, they work with sculpture,  installation, music, performance and poetry.  

// ARTIST STATEMENT  

Some weeks before the residency started Varia had a dream of someone who stretched out their arm but then the same arm appeared from another direction and touched body parts of that same person. We immediately started shooting video material for it. We felt a connection between the dream and the issue of communication in times of violence and war. As a preparation for our residency, we started learning Russian and shortly after the first Russian poem developed POEM TO PARTICIPATE WITH THE BODY FOR TWO AND MORE. It is exciting to get in contact with the Russian language for this work. It feels like an exercise to keep the discussion culture going.  

The idea is to create a sculptural installation made out of material gathered in Narva and to finish the video work to be shown in a collaborative exhibition with Andrea Stanislav at the residency.  

As a second project, we will work with a local choir (tandem choir) on LOOK BACK  AND LAUGH, a sound installation and workshop idea we started in Helsinki 2019.  The idea is to create a symphony of laughter. We will record the workshop sessions and individual laughter. The fantasy is to be able to simply look back and laugh.  This project is an important counterpart to the topic of violence. We can’t take away the pain and the memories but for a moment when we all laugh together, we will at least feel happiness. 

// EXPERIENCE AT NART

We arrived during the preparations for Narva Music Festival and the opening of a new exhibition. The house was full of energy and excitement and we got to enjoy different inspiring shows. Johanna the artistic director of NART and the other residents have been very supportive and welcoming and we have been sharing thoughts and helpful information during spontaneous dinners.

At first we checked out the local food situation. Since we found some stands with self made food just around the residency – pickled and fresh vegetables, honey and home made pelmeni – it was very hard do widen our radius to other parts of the city (laughing).

As a method we both like to go on long walks. During these walks we usually find inspiring objects and materials to use for sculptures and locations for possible performances or shootings.

Narva with its abandoned areas invites you to go on little adventures every day and we are finding material to work with all the time!
This time our walks were a little bit shorter since we were in the 9th month of our pregnancy.

About 10 weeks before the residency started we had a dream of somebody who stretched out his arm but then the same arm appeared from another direction and touched body parts of that person. We immediately started shooting video material for it. We felt a connection between the dream and the issue of communication. As a preparation to our residency we learned a bit Russian and shortly after the first Russian poem developed POEM TO PARTICIPATE WITH THE BODY FOR TWO AND MORE.
At first we used it as an opener for the workshop we have been conducting but soon we realised that this would be the starting point for our new work. We have shot video material in Helsinki and will continue this here in Narva. For this we are collaborating with Kush Badhwar (editor) Valentin Kimstedt (composer) and Graham Valentine (voice artist).

We created a sculpture made out of material gathered in Narva and finished the video work to be shown in one of the exhibitions spaces at the residency. Its exiting to get in contact with the Russian language for this work. It feels like an exercise to keep the discussion culture going in times of violence and war.

As a second project we worked with a local choir on LOOK BACK AND LAUGH, a sound installation and workshop idea we started in Helsinki 2019. The idea is to create a symphony of laughter. We recorded the workshop sessions and individual laughters and will gather more material for the future.
The fantasy is to be able to simply look back and laugh. This project is an important counterpart to the topic of violence. We can’t take away the pain and the memories but for a moment when we all laugh together, we will at least feel happiness.