Nathalie Djurberg & Hans Berg: It Will End in Stars virtual reality event
EVENT: Nathalie Djurberg & Hans Berg: It Will End in Stars virtual reality event
DATE: 15th June 2023 - 30th June 2023
TIME: Monday to Friday 10.30am to 5.00pm (Saturdays 11am to 4.00pm; late opening Thursdays 10.30am to 8.30 pm)
VENUE: Swedenborg Hall
ARTIST/S: Nathalie Djurberg & Hans Berg
CURATOR/S: Daniel Birnbaum and Jacqui Davies
About this event
It Will End in Stars (2018) is an immersive virtual reality experience combining Nathalie Djurberg’s distinctive sculpted figures with black and white charcoal drawings, text, and an unsettling soundtrack by Hans Berg.
The work is a continuation of Djurberg’s interest in archetypal landscapes, evoking fairy tales first encountered in childhood. Viewers begin their journey deep in a forest, entering a clearing to discover a wooden cabin. Inside, a wolf sits in front of a glowing fire—the building’s chintz interior undercut by a creeping sense of unease. Hand-written text, which appears hanging in mid-air, conveys the wolf’s thoughts, merging digital technology with an aesthetic closer to silent cinema. He describes the virtual environment as the ‘shadowside’, delivering a confession that merges themes common in Djurberg’s practice; fear, guilt and animalistic impulse.
Painstakingly scanned and animated, Djurberg’s creature is responsive, meeting the viewer’s gaze and responding to their movements. The effect is disconcerting; we are uncomfortably aware of our status as watched intruder. Around the room, objects become portals into alternate dimensions: a skull becomes a route into a kaleidoscopic environment, while a shadowy enclave of the cabin opens out into a cavernous animated temple. This dream-like vision ends in a sprawling star-scape, removing any sense of time and space through a suggestion of infinity.
It Will End in Stars forms the 3rd virtual reality chapter of the Tremulations exhibition, curated by Daniel Birnbaum and Jacqui Davies, at Swedenborg House.
About Nathalie Djurberg & Hans Berg
Nathalie Djurberg & Hans Berg live and work in Sweden and the United Kingdom. Their work has been exhibited at the 53rd Venice Biennale, the Prada Foundation in Milan, Italy and the Museum of Modern Art, New York.
About Tremulations
Curated by Daniel Birnbaum and Jacqui Davies
VIRTUAL REALITY WORKS: APRIL: MARK LECKEY (WORLD PREMIERE); MAY: HILMA AF KLINT; JUNE: NATHALIE DJURBERG & HANS BERG (UK PREMIERE).
INSTALLED WORKS: TONY COKES; MARCEL DUCHAMP; YAYOI KUSAMA; GRACE NDIRITU; MERET OPPENHEIM; PETER SAVILLE; EMANUEL SWEDENBORG; APICHATPONG WEERASETHAKUL; ITEMS FROM THE SWEDENBORG HOUSE COLLECTION
Tremulations, an exhibition in three chapters at London’s Swedenborg House, opens with the world premiere of Mark Leckey’s first virtual reality work: The Bridge.
Emanuel Swedenborg’s visionary universe is one of reflections and correspondences. Sacred scripture, he claimed, is a mirror in which we see God. At her request, he once introduced a young girl to an angel: leading her to a corner of his study, he drew back a curtain to reveal a mirror and the girl’s own face. Swedenborg, the author of On Tremulation (1719), envisioned a cosmos in which everything, including seemingly solid objects, vibrates. ‘In tremulations there are millions of variations’, according to the ninth and final rule of his doctrine.
The exhibition Tremulations, curated by Daniel Birnbaum and Jacqui Davies, presents objects from the rich archives of Swedenborg House as well as writings and works of art by, among others, Marcel Duchamp, Meret Oppenheim, Yayoi Kusama, Peter Saville and Apichatpong Weerasethakul. Structured according to Swedenborg’s Nine Rules of Tremulation, the exhibition will be presented in chapters manifested in physical, temporal and virtual space at Swedenborg House. Each chapter will include a virtual reality work produced by Acute Art: The Bridge by Mark Leckey (April); Hilma af Klint: The Temple (May); and It will End in Stars by Nathalie Djurberg & Hans Berg (June); plus 3 ‘corresponding’ works of projection. The first of these will be Phantoms of Nabua, by Apichatpong Weerasethakul; the second My Blood Self: Civilizations 1 by Grace Ndiritu; and the third Testament A (MF FKA K-P X KE RIP) by Tony Cokes.
GALLERY OPENING TIMES: Monday-Friday 10.30am-5pm; Saturday 10.30am-4pm. Free admission (but booking required)
EXHIBITION BOOKINGS: https://tremulations.eventbrite.co.uk
VR VIEWING RUNS
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MARK LECKEY: 3 April – 2 May 2023
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HILMA AF KLINT: 4 May – 13 June 2023
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NATHALIE DJURBERG & HANS BERG: 15 June – 30 June 2023