Portfolio 2023

Portfolio Ylva Owren

Theatre and performance

Normaliteten “Normaliteten” (“Normalcy”) is a dark comedy about the statistically normal. The piece investigates where we as a society place the borders between the ordinary, the normal and the abnormal; how many times does a “deviation” have to be repeated to be considered normal? On stage, the widespread deviations are shaped into a nuclear family enveloped in sexual, physical and psychological violence. The audience is invited into a home with an omnipresent lack of communication, but where the dreams far transcends the invisible walls, their self-knowledge and their perseverance.

The theatre piece is accompanied by a compilation of short prose under the headline “Hverdagspoesi” (“Everyday Poetry”).

The texts are written by the artistic team and revolve around observations and memories from childhood, adolescence and early adulthood on a quest to find connections between the grand world and the petite human being. It’s about experience and crossing borders, or about negating experience and refusing to accept the existence of limitations.

Scenographer, co-director, graphic designer and producer Created in collaboration with Normaliteten and Judith Humer Dramaturge: Judith Humer Playwright: Tuva Hennum Mask design and creation: Maria Magdalena Ly Auraaen Actors: Tobias Aksdal, Hannah Karine Giske, Tuva Hennum and Benjamin Lønne Røsler Co-produced by Nordland Teater (Mo i Rana, NO) in 2019 Supported by Kulturrådet, Fritt Ord and Norsk Skuespillersenter Photos: Thor Lønning Aarrestad Teasers: https://vimeo.com/399838204, https://vimeo.com/399838889, https://vimeo.com/399839379, https://vimeo.com/398895767

1968 “1968” departs from the 50 year anniversary of the student riots, and poses questions about where we have gotten to today, and where we will be 50 years into the future. Inspired by the Happenings and performance art of the 1960’s, the theatre space is separated into a ground floor and a loft. Upstairs, the audience is invited to take part in a journey through a series of conversation formats concerning fears, hope, action and influence.

Scenographer, co-director, concept developer and co-light designer Created in collaboration with by Proxy Actors: Janna Horstmann, Lucas Hupfeld and by Proxy Dramaturge: Anna Gojer Produced by Theater Freiburg (Freiburg, DE) in 2018 Supported by Baden-Württemberg Stiftung Photos: Bastian Kabuth

Volksoper “Volksoper” is an experimental pop-up opera festival for people who do not usually go to the opera. Half of the festival program was presented in the theatre’s event venue “Passage 46”, and the other half was presented in the Opera Annex - a free standing and temporary opera house built specifically for the festival.

All performances presented in the Opera Annex dealt in different ways with the status of women in the traditional opera machinery.

Strategically placed right outside the theatre’s main entrance, the annex provided a temporary sanctuary for artists, stories and discussions that are not welcomed onto the main opera stages.

Artistic director, concept developer, curator and designer of the Opera Annex. Co-graphic designer. Concept and costume design for “It’s not over until the soprano dies” Created in collaboration with by Proxy, Lærke Grøntved, Mareike Dobewall, Mari Askvik and singers, performers and musicians from Freiburg Produced by Theater Freiburg (Freiburg, DE) in 2018 Supported by Baden-Württemberg Stiftung and FFUK Photos: Mareike Dobewall, Lærke Grøntved and by Proxy

Stedsans “Stedsans” is a walkabout performance through the alleyways of Odense. In every nook and cranny the audience is presented with musical, textual, visual and performative pieces developed in collaboration with and performed by volunteers from the city.

As the walkabout unfolds the audience develops a heightened sensitivity to their surroundings, and the borders between the planned performance and the daily life of the city itself starts to blur. In the coldest and least friendly time of the year, the streets open up and becomes alive.

Scenographer, co-director, concept developer and performer Created in collaboration with by Proxy, Geddy Aniksdal and Lars Vik Project leader: Ann Sofie Fabricius Contributors: altogether 100 volunteers from Danseakademiet City Ballett, Seniorblæserne, Fjordagerscenen, Spillestedet, Samtalesalon for Kvinder, free group for breakdance and parkour, Det Fynske Kammerkor, Kosmos and the city Co-produced by Teater Momentum (Odense, DK) and Grenland Friteater (Porsgrunn, NO) in 2018 Photos: Dag Jenssen

Lugten af andre “Lugten af andre” (“The Fragrance of Others”) studies loneliness through the seemingly merry and social lens of Christmas. With humour as a life jacket we attempt to wipe away our tears with laughter, and test if we, together, dare to acknowledge loneliness as a social phenomenon.

Scenographer, prop master, co-light designer, co-creator and performer Developed in collaboration with by Proxy Director: Marie Nikazm Bakken Costume design: Katrine Hoffmann The Christmas house is an upcycled version of TV2 Fyns Tour de France studio from 2017 Produced by Theater Momentum (Odense, DK) in 2017 Photos: by Proxy

Os “Os” (“Us”) is a performance for youth about group affiliation and identity. Starting from the members of by Proxy’s social identities as women, men, gay and white, our perception of reality and self is explored. The subjects constantly move between the uncomfortable, embarrassing, provoking and humorous as we discover and challenge our (often unconscious) prejudices of other social groups. How do we judge and communicate differently with different people, based on their gender identity, sexuality and race?

Throughout the piece, the audience members have access to a personal light switch which controls a random roof lamp. The lamps function as an extension of the spectator, who through a flick of the switch can express their opinion on confronting statements made during the show. The individual remains anonymous, while the opinions of the audience as a mass becomes visible.

How many in the space believes in God? How many supports euthanasia? Are our immigration politics too strict?

Scenographer, co-director, co-light designer and performer Created in collaboration with by Proxy Produced by Teater Momentum (Odense, DK) in 2017.

Also performed at CPH Stage (Copenhagen, DK), Den Kulturelle Skolesekken (Oppland, NO) and Listaleypurin (Faroe Islands, DK) Photos: by Proxy

Voiceland “Voiceland” is a site-specific live choir installation. 17 singers construct a world that solely consists of vocal sounds, while the audience can move around freely to shape their own experience.

The first version of the piece was presented in Hjalteyri’s defunct herring factory, which now functions as a gallery and culture house.

Scenographer, costume- and makeup designer Director and librettist: Mareike Dobewall Composer: Gísli Jóhann Grétarsson Conductor: Eyþór Ingi Jónsson Choir: Hymnodia Co-produced by A! Festival and Verksmiðjan (Hjalteyri, IS) in 2017 Photos: Mareike Dobewall

Escape the Universe “Escape the Universe” is an artistic thought experiment, driven by the urge to create a poetic escape room, a space in which science, fantasy and fiction merge and collide. Inside a strictly facilitated open space the audience members meet both performers and each other. They talk, listen, draw, interact and observe as we collectively gather the last pieces of information before the final take-off into our utopian ideas of the future. The performance is an escape, and a genuine attempt to approach this seemingly infinite and incomprehensible organism that is the universe. In a performative celebration of cosmic dimensions, the performers and the audience start to uncover which values mean the most, here and now, in life on earth.

Scenographer, co-director and performer Created in collaboration with by Proxy Costume design by Henrik Wilhelm Johansen Co-produced by BIT Teatergarasjen (Bergen, NO), Theater Oberhausen (Oberhausen, NO), Grenland Friteater (Porsgrunn, NO) and Godsbanens Åbne Scene (Aarhus, DK) in 2017 Also performed at Black Box Teater (Oslo, NO), AvantGarden (Trondheim, NO) and Teater Momentum (Odense, DK) Supported by Kulturrådet, FFUK, Aarhus municipality and Körber Stiftung Photos: Julian Rauchfuss and by Proxy

Stop Being Poor “Stop Being Poor” is a loud meditation on capitalism and the collective anxiety this system cause. In a competitive market where anyone can be replaced at any time, there exists an almost inevitable lifecycle: Work - Consume - Die. Just like the ‘50s demanded hard unvaried labor from its workers, our working life today values acceleration, non-stop availability and a welcoming sincere smile.

“Stop Being Poor” investigates the efforts we make to tuck away our anxiety and submerge our demons and fears, while continuously staying on top and ahead of everything in the omnipresent competitivity of modern day capitalism. The piece plays with game- and power structures, and audience as an integral witness.

Scenographer, co-director and performer Created in collaboration with by Proxy Artistic consultants: Lisa Lie and Siri Langdalen Created as final independent production at Norwegian Theatre Academy (Fredrikstad, NO) in 2015 Also performed at DDSKS (Copenhagen, DK), Teater Momentum (Odense, DK), GogolFest (Kiev, UA), The House and The Lights Festival, K60 (Fredrikstad, NO), Det Frie Felts Festival (Copenhagen, DK), Nordic Performing Arts Days (Torshavn, FO), Åbne Scene, Godsbanen (Aarhus, DK), Münchner Kammerspiele (Munich, DE), Theater Oberhausen (Oberhausen, DE), Thalia Theater (Hamburg, DE), Fast Forward Festival (Braunschweig, DE) and DISKURS Festival (Gießen, DE) Winner of the directing award Körber Studio Junge Regie 2015 Photos: Kraft Angerer and Jan Hajdelak Hustak Trailer: https://vimeo.com/170289619

4:48 “4:48” is a piece about a man who decides to commit suicide, and displays his arguments for life between the decision and the action. The dramaturgy is a spiral that begin in the narrow bottom and unwinds upwards, from density and intensity to stillness, to silence.

Scenographer Director: Mareike Dobewall Actor: Jade Francis Hay Based on: “4:48 Psychosis” by Sarah Kane Produced by Norwegian Theatre Academy (Fredrikstad, NO) in 2014 Photos: Mareike Dobewall and Ylva Owren Teaser: https://vimeo.com/89449964

Inside This world is dulled down, slowed down, under water, inside the brain. A seemingly endless space, with air bubbles frozen in the air, creates the vessel for a dialogue between the soaking wet actor and a rectangular insertion in the ceiling. They are discussing memories, and other functions of the brain.

Co-creator and co-scenographer Created in collaboration with Matias Askvik, Per Magnus Barlaug and Mareike Dobewall Tutor: Reinert Mithassel Produced by Norwegian Theatre Academy (Fredrikstad, NO) in 2013 Photos: Mareike Dobewall and Ylva Owren

Small house growing from within Imprisonment is a penalty that a state may impose on a person for the commission of a crime. This is to protect society from the criminal and to punish the wrong-doer. The harsh reality of imprisonment and the abuse of this institution are complex, and we asked ourselves how we could relate to this topic. Are there bars in our lives holding us from a different reality, protecting us from interaction with other people, maybe even punishing us without our knowledge?

We explored these questions by placing a contrasting image into a grim prison cell. During a 5 hour long performance, we clothed ourselves in wallpaper-dresses and built a charming, smaller-thanlife house that was barely big enough to fit us. As the house grew more complete, our range of movement was continuously limited.

By nailing our dresses to the construction, we created a prison of our own.

Co-creator and performer Created in collaboration with Mareike Dobewall Developed for and performed at Gamle Bergen Kretsfengsel (Bergen, NO) during PAB Open in 2013 Photos: Ann Mirjam Vailka

The dictionary of the insatiable lotus eaters that picked my flower.

CHANGE. It´s a good deal though.

Rendez-vous?

The performative installation consists of 24 cubes in a 25th big one. 24 references to time, relationships, ethics, communities, feelings - concepts with which the audience must interact by penetrating some of these cubic spaces, reading, smelling, touching, speaking and listening.

Inside this space are also four performers, who every now and then leave their individual bases to form a band; sincerely giving away parts of themselves to the audience by humbly singing songs of love.

Co-creator and performer Created in collaboration with Heidi Dalene, Corentin JPM Leven and Ida Holthe Lid Tutor: Maria Magdalena Schwaagerman Based on “Dictionary of the Winds” by Ivetta Gerasimchuk Produced by Norwegian Theatre Academy (Fredrikstad, NO) in 2013 Photos: Matias Askvik, Ann Mirjam Vailka and Ylva Owren

Skin Skin explores the connection and the balance of power between body and mind. Is every decision we make purely a result of biology, or is our will stronger than our bodies?

The performance was developed and shown in a warm wooden space made of painted OSB boards and untreated wooden structure.

Creator and performer Performed with Nela Kornetova Tutor: Andrej Bartenev Produced by Norwegian Theatre Academy (Fredrikstad, NO) in 2012 Photos: Monika Sobczak

Installation and exhibition

Sound of Silence “Sound of Silence” explores the Norwegian weapon industry and critically assesses the tendency not to discuss its impact on Norway’s economy. It is striking that Norway’s long history of weapon technology is absent from the Norwegian Museum of Technology and Science, somehow mirroring the society itself.

Considering the fact that museums are still arenas of power and knowledge, we started to question if there is a way for museums to not only be a vessel to show off spectacular national developments in technology and science. Is there a possibility for a different approach to these topics, for creating an arena for open discussion? For creating an arena for active democracy?

Initiator and co-creator Created in collaboration with Matias Askvik and Ann Mirjam Vaikla Material: Plaster, plywood Developed for and shown at The Norwegian Museum of Technology and Science (Oslo, NO) in 2014 Also recreated and exhibited at Brunel University (London, UK) as part of Artaud Forum 4.

Photos: Ann Mirjam Vailka

The Glass Menagerie How can something as shallow as a glass animal become an obsession? Is their company hidden in the material or the numbers? Is there beauty in the fragile, and is there signifigance?

Creator Inspired by “The glass menagerie” by Tennessee Williams Material: 624 glass animals made with lampworking technique Installation created at Strykejernet Kunstskole (Oslo, NO) in 2012 Photos: Ylva Owren

Lovers Reading “Lovers reading of each others bodies differs from the reading of written pages in that it is not linear.”

After any sexual act there is a moment of reflection, of cleansing, of self nurturing. We rid ourselves of each others bodily fluids, and go on.

Creator Material: 200 wine glasses, soap, 6 women Photographic installation developed at Strykejernet Kunstskole (Oslo, NO) in 2012 Photos: Ylva Owren

Contact Ylva Owren ylvaowren@gmail.com +47 971 79 401