“The Lives Beneath”
by Bianca Kennedy & Felix Kraus,
curated by Savina Tarsitano and Alejandro Martín.
Espronceda is proud to present the exhibition of the two German artists Bianca Kennedy and Felix Kraus. In the four week long residency at Espronceda they worked on their third and last installment of the Life 3.0 trilogy, the final chapter about the evolutionary future of mankind.
For their project they worked with local musicians, Justino Palat, Ugne Daniele Reikalaite, Jozz & David Fractals, to create a meditative soundtrack. They also included people from Barcelona in their cinematographic scenes. This footage is being combined with scenes they recorded in the USA and Canada, depicting haunting shots of calcified birds and intimidating views of raw landscapes. While fisher(wo)men tell their personal story and nature mourns its existence, the dialogue becomes embodied with songs from a choir.
Kennedy and Kraus depict a world in the year 4000. Everything in nature gets merged into one single mind. Plants, animals and hybrid human beings form a worldwide super-network of conciousness. The few remaining non-hybrid humans are being forced to live underwater in floating shiplike cities. Humans try to convince nature that they’re still valuable, using songs, meditation and yoga. The Lives Beneath examines the downfall of a society that refuses to live with nature in harmony. But on the other side is a self-conscious planet,which suffers from the burden of having to think for all eternity.
For the exhibition at Espronceda they will create a multidimensional experience, ranging from the central film to suspended metal sculptures, drawings, sounds, shadow animations, paper embossments, collages and a stunning installation: The visitor can enter the cabin of a ship, diving into their world even deeper.
The work of Kennedy and Kraus can be understood as a subtle metaphor about the status quo of human civilization. Because their movie The Lives Beneath gives a voice to nature, they raise awareness for current problems and influence our attitude towards nature.
The opening of the exhibition on February, 11th is sponsored by Moritz Barcelona.
Bianca Kennedy & Felix Kraus have been collaborating on selected projects since 2013. Currently they are on a year long journey around the world (e.g. USA, Vancouver, Barcelona, Athens and Bolzano) with various international exhibitions and residencies.
Opening reception on Thursday 11th of February at 7pm.
Open from February 12th to February 18th by appointement: 658 319 260/645105788
Espronceda, CENTER for ART and CULTURE
Carrer d’Espronceda, 326, Nave 4-5, 08027, Barcelona. Metro: Navas
