Tilstandsrapport part 2 and 3
In June 2014, approximately 300 pupils from Sandnes aged 13-15, were invited to KinoKino to participate in a Live Art event. Anna Roos showed the video "Tilstandsrapport" to them, followed by interaction from the pupils. They were asked to color a tag either red or blue based on their experience of ever having the feeling of being left out. They sat in silence side by side coloring their tag in the cinema theatre. You could hear the occasional whispering or giggling, you could see eyes glancing at the others tags, but mostly you could hear the sound of the pencils transferring color to the tags, and as they finished, you could hear the silence.
It is 200 years since our Norwegian constitution was written. In the period 1814-1884 you had to be a man over 25 years of age, you had to be part of a privileged group and you had to own a certain amount of property to be eligible to vote. Where are we today? Who is allowed to participate, and who is not acknowledged as a part of our communal We?
After coloring the tags, the artist and the pupils discussed different ways of being outsiders or insiders. Every class was different and influenced the direction of the communication. They discussed being an outsider in school and being an outsider in society as a whole. Other topics that came up were moving to a new place, refugees, bullying, being different, politics, the right to vote and democracy. The artist asked the pupils if they wanted to donate their colored tags to the project. If they wanted to, they could hang their tags in key lockers that the artist had placed in the staircase on the way out. Most pupils donated their tags, and it soon became evident that the majority of the participants had been feeling left out at some stage in life.
The artist took the materials from this event and made it into a temporary installation in the Youth Café L54 in Sandnes in 2015. At the opening, Anna Roos handed out lollipops to all visitors as a welcoming act. One of the youths danced break dance to a soundtrack made by the artist. This was a mix of the sound of playing on crystall glass and a small child reciting a Norwegian rime; "Elle Melle." Children use this rime to point out the one who is "singled out" or rather the one who has to tag the others in for instance a game of "tags" ("you´re it.")
Text are extracts taken from the video. Long text in door opening read:
"Vi bygger ikke hus, vi bygger omdømme, og nå dømmer jeg deg.
Uten ord, uten dramatikk.
Jeg bare kikker langsomt opp og ned, opp og ned, opp og ned."
In english:
"We are not building houses, we are building a reputation,
and now I am reputing you.
Without words, without drama.
I am just gazing at you, slowly looking up and down, up and down, up and down."
Text on key locker:
"We have to hunt for the beautiful, we must find what is moving,
without straining a muscle. without moving a soul."
Text on wall:
"ARE YOU ONE OF US? ARE YOU ONE OF THE OTHERS? ARE YOU ONE OF THE CITIZENS?
Over lockers:
" You have been tagged by a friend. Do you want to add it to your timeline?"
