

AfterpartyAngel; Earthly treasures
by Elísabet Birta Sveinsdóttir
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Earthly treasures is a video-installation of works created for the occasion of the Hamraborg Festival. Three live-sized arcade games make the structure for three different video works that echo the aesthetics of early video games as well as music videos, thus creating a convincing visual and sonic composition embodied in the characteristic space of Catalina. The performance and visual artist Elísabet Birta Sveinsdóttir invited visual artists Joanna Pawlowska, Sasa Lubinska and Weronika Wysocka as well as the artist's parents to collaborate on each video. The work explores the visual metaphors of an extended persona of Elísabet Birta, a figure that is in the centre of the exhibition, AfterpartyAngel, a character torn between the angelic mission and earthly indulgence.
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The installation at Catalina takes on the guise of an arcade game that refers to the actual slot machines present in the bar's basement, but becomes a gate to yet another secret world. The installation explores the relationships between queer potential of re-inventing meanings and the power of disguise, but also addresses performativity and fluid dynamics of new media narratives. The artist shares with the audience the complexity of these relations and atmospheres, through a humorous and gently mischievous lens.
On Earth, 2023
Animated video and sound 3:30 min
AfterpartyAngel in collaboration with Brokat Films: Joanna Pawłowska and Sasa Lubińska
Music: Elísabet Birta Sveinsdóttir
Directed by: Elísabet Birta Sveinsdóttir and Joanna PawÅ‚owska
3D animation: Sasa Lubińska
In a game full of hybrid creatures, non-human others, thirst traps and digital bodies playful and loose narratives unfold. Fragmented mythological symbols, contradicting temptations and tender yearnings spin in each step to the rhythm of Angel's song. Struggling with the tension of existing dualities and binaries, Angel is pulled between powerful forces, floating between heaven and hell.
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Work was presented during the Hamraborg Festival 2023.