In Rapture

In Rapture

(Bevingad, Betagen)

Set design/ objects. A collaboration with the dancer/performer Maud Karlsson. A piece about dreams, communication and change. With support from Uppland Arts Council. Shown at the Botanical Garden in Uppsala, Uppsala Art Museum and more. 2005. For more info about Maud Karlsson’s work, check out www.maudsart.se.

In rapture was, at first, conceived of as a performance based on ideas regarding communication: how to communicate within and between different art forms as well as outward communication; drawing on both artistic expressions and personal experience. We discovered that we, in spite of our different art forms, shared a common language of expression.

With this as a frame, the collaboration began to evolve. One of my strongest artistic interests has long been to see how the number of objects the spectator meets affects his or her experience. Combined with my fascination for animal symbolism, I caught the image of a swarm. Then a butterfly flew by.

This image I handed over to Maud, who with delicacy translated it into movement – an embodiment of transformation.  Through a saturated metaphorical language she moves through different emotional states, where the symbolism links to general problems of the human being – vulnerability, dreams and self-fulfilment.