Or else nobody will know

In the info leaflet METTE EDVARDSEN >PROJECTS 2002-2010 the following can be read about the production Or else nobody will know: 

"A main focus in my works till now is 'there'ness (or presence, comment by Sceneweb) and an emphasised interest in or attention to presence and the present. Although the pieces seem to contemplate emptiness and absence, this is only there as a consequence of the existence of something else. I want to draw attention to little things, to other things, to attentiveness as such. I am interested in how our perception works, to find different ways of expanding our perceptive fields. In this new work I include memory as a perceptive organ, where past events become part of an active construction of the present.

The piece is based on concepts of superimposition and repetition. Narratives are introduced as motifs. A repeated scene is the background for a continuous folding and unfolding of time and of space. The scene holds a number of details, actions, movements and relations, and the familiarity of the scene and the repetition is there to invite closer reading. I conceive time not as duration but as exposure, where things can appear, become visible, gain meanings and capacities. Through repetition the actions and relations are confronted with their realities and abilities to change or to remain. What does it mean 'to do the same'? How does material reality respond to this attempt? What traces does it leave in our physicality? And, how can we be in the same space but in different times?

The reoccurrence of events addresses memory and uncertainty. Although recognising that something has happened and perhaps has changed, it is questioned by the possibility that memory is deceptive. I wish to evoke and to activate our memory and imagination, and to enhance awareness in a playful way."

Or else nobody will know was supported by Vlaamse Gemeenschap, Arts Council Norway, The Audio Visual Fund, The Fund for Performing Artists.

Source:

Mette Edvardsen’s private archive. Donated by: Mette Edvardsen, 11.12.2010