The project visited eleven locations in Sweden: Burseryd, Kinnekulle, Sandviken, Hofors, Grängesberg, Njakkafjäll (Njakafjäll), Miesiegoejhke (Meselefors), Gállok (Kallak), Liggá (Ligga), Miessávrre (Messaure) and Jåhkåmåhkke (Jokkmokk) with a focus on extraction of energy and raw materials in relation to an increasing dependence on digital technologies. The artists´ own relation to technology is put in a wider perspective of natural resources and it´s history. The result is an experimental documentary film of 55 minutes with the title “Ritual” that explores the greed for energy as a social, material and historical phenomenon. The film highlights how life in urban centers is dependent on nature and the people living in sparsely-populated communities in Sweden.
The project employs rituals as artistic method. In each place rituals were conducted and by letting the ritual actions evolve stories appeared and the film´s visual material concretized. Here, a “ritual” is refered to in two ways, a staged event that affects both perception of time, place and people, and also understood as a repeated micro-action, such as picking up the mobile phone a hundred times a day. The film was shot with both digital and hand-powered 16mm cameras. Vegetation found growing at the sites was used to create images (phytograms) directly on the film’s emulsion.
RITUAL – A meditative and experimental documentary exploring energy greed in Sweden
The film has been created by Vague Research Studios, which here consists of the artists Kajsa G. Eriksson, Lena Berglin, Maria Magnusson. The music is created by and in collaboration with the composer and sound artist Klara Andersson and she also recorded the voice-over text. The graphic form of the film is created in collaboration with the graphic designer Milena Karlsson. The film is produced with the support of Kulturbryggan.
