In the series HMKV Video of the Month, HMKV presents in monthly rotation current video works by international artists – selected by Inke Arns.
Stine Deja: Cryptic Ruins
HMKV Video of the Month
01–31 December 2021
It’s the year 21020 and a mysterious archaeological site has been uncovered in what was central London. A large communal structure dedicated to seemingly unproductive expending of energy from human bodies. Whilst we might easily identify it as a gym, our descendants are concerned with why it exists at all.
By framing the 21st century compulsion towards physical fitness as a mysterious practice of the past that requires decoding, Deja’s playful film reveals something of the absurdity of contemporary urban life and questions the rationality of our obsessions. (SD)
About the artist
Born in Denmark in 1986 and currently based in Copenhagen, Stine Deja received her MA from Royal College of Art in 2015 and her BA in interaction design from Kolding School of Design in 2012. Deja’s work often exists in the borderland between the real and the virtual. She creates video, sculpture and immersive installations where moving image pieces spill out into the physical space that they are presented in. Her shows offer a participatory experience, where the viewer is forced into the ‘world’ of the moving image both on the screen and around it. Deja encourages people to rethink and reimagine where we are and where we are going next, she borrows from familiar tropes and aesthetics to build upon peoples’ pre-existing attitudes and expectations in order to disrupt and skew them. https://stinedeja.com
01–31 December 2021
Stine Deja
Cryptic Ruins
Single Channle Video, 2019, 4:00 min
Commissioned by Somerset House