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Ausgeträumt (2010)
Deimantas Narkevičius (born 1964, Lithuania)
Music video installation, 5:30 minutes, loop
The title could be translated into English as a
state between dream and reality on the cusp of
waking up, or it could simply mean the dream
is over. Sometimes one has to approach a theme
through a beautiful and meditative film, rather
than with a strong message.
Ausgeträumt
shows
a bunch of young men playing in an empty caf-
eteria – they have just started a band. They look
beautiful but sad. The video is about their vision
of their future, their reflections on their political
or, more importantly, their unsatisfying cultural
environment.
Outside they are surrounded by a snowy land-
scape. Now and then a car drives through a city
and onto a road leading nowhere. The scene is
filmed in Lithuania. What is the future in this
country, for this generation? For the young boy
who happens to be the son of the artist? Where
will these snowy roads lead them?
Ausgeträumt
approaches the notion of cultural identity in the
most simple and fascinating way.
Narkevičius is one of themost consistent andwide-
ly recognised Lithuanian artists on the international
scene. He represented his country at the 49
th
Venice
Biennale in 2001 and exhibited at the 50
th
Venice
Biennale in 2003 in “Utopia Station.”
The Laboratory
Please enter the United States of Europe labora-
tory…
Find out what, for instance, Maria from Cyprus
thinks about European unification, or how John
from Ireland perceives European citizenship. In
these videos you can watch interviews with citi-
zens from ten different European countries, which
form part of the U.S.E project’s sociological study.
It is here, in ‘the Lab’, where sociology meets art.
A work in progress, the ‘Lab’ is being developed
by the Latvian multimedia artist Jānis Garančs
who, together with other international collabora-
tors, will advance the laboratory further over the
whole series of the travelling exhibitions to come.
The ‘Lab’ is a feedback/communication platform
for you, the visitor, where you can talk about your
ideas. You can submit ‘your European story’ or
photos, check out a quiz, answer a questionnaire or
just get in touch by visiting the online guestbook.
All these can be found on the website www.go-use.
eu, where people will be able to read your thoughts
and follow your feedback.
The Laboratory
By Jānis Garančs*
As Europe can mean so many different things from
the perspective of political powers, business “mar-
kets,” large and small countries, nationalities and
families and individuals, the approach in the Labo-
ratory is to explore the complexity of European
identities as an interplay of historical, demograph-
ic, geopolitical, economic and cultural concepts.
I encourage the interpretation of the project’s title
not only through its politically-coloured meaning
(a state as a country), but also through its more ab-
stract meaning, at least in English – i.e., a state as a
condition/status.
The workshop participants, on-site as well as on-
line, can submit their reflections as text messages,
images and even video sequences. The Laboratory
will feature several interactive screens and projec-
tions, webcams and computer terminals for short
text input. It will act as a temporary virtual embassy
of the United States of Europe, connecting U.S.E
exhibition venues with satellite events and loca-
tions.
Thus, the Laboratory works as a ‘processing de-
vice’ – that travels from place to place and adapts
accordingly – that will collate the co-creators’ and
visitors’ input and manifest itself as a self-organiz-
ing map or overview, offering multiple layers for
exploration, and becoming, through immersive
3D visualisations and sonifications (also featuring
computer generated stereoscopic projection and
multi channel audio), an evolving multimedia art-
work itself.
*Multimedia artist and researcher, Riga, Latvia