Filmform (est. 1950) is dedicated to preservation, promotion and worldwide distribution of experimental film and video art. Constantly expanding, the distribution catalogue spans from 1924 to the present, including works by Sweden’s most prominent artists and filmmakers, available to rent for public screenings and exhibitions as well as for educational purposes.
Again and Again We Ask These Questions considers all species, cultures, and lifeways that are no longer in existence. It commemorates and reaches out to those lost and threatened.
One member from HP (Hillside Projects) repeatedly reads a collection of questions and short statements from a book. The texts are existential in nature and printed on newsprint. The newsprint will, over time, turn yellow, and the ink will fade.
The arrangement of the performative reading, together with a synthetic organ soundscape, serves as the narrative drivers of the work. Again and Again We Ask These Questions speaks of an attempt to figure something out, of dedicatedly trying to make sense of that which is lost.
HP (Hillside Projects) is Emily Berry Mennerdahl and Jonas Böttern. HP tells stories. Stories about the many cycles of life and failed symbiosis. Birds are often the main characters: colourful birds on the brink of extinction, birds killed in aeroplane crashes, and birds that eat the dead. HP thinks about how to tell stories and which stories are who’s to tell. Embracing the absurd, comedic and tragic, tales of disappearances are explored, alongside the inter-related existential emotions and socio-political narratives that arise through these tales. HP’s works are manifested as performance, text, video, sound, painting and installations.
HP is based in Stockholm, Sweden. Berry Mennerdahl holds an MFA from Concordia University, Montréal, Böttern holds an MFA from Konstfack, Stockholm. Recent exhibitions, screenings and performances include: IASPIS (Stockholm, 2024), Kristianstad konsthall (2024), PhotoKTM 5 (Kathmandu, 2023), Oyoun Kultur NewDenken (Berlin, 2023), Röda Sten konsthall (Gothenburg, 2022), Bonniers konsthall (Stockholm, 2021). Recent artist residencies include IASPIS (Stockholm, 2024) photo.circle (Kathmandu, 2023), Clark House Initiative (Mumbai, 2022), SEA Foundation (Tilburg, 2021). Recent research endeavors contexts include the research group “Relentless Existential Threates” at Lunds University (Lund, 2024), Lab Doc UQUAM (2023, Montréal) and Nordic Multispecies Conference at Södertörn University (2024, Stockholm). HP’s videos are distributed by FilmForm – The Art Film & Video Archive and Vidéographe Montréal.
