New Life Horbelev
Video, 10:56 min, 2010
NEW LIFE HORBELEV is a social experiment based in the village of Horbelev in Denmark. The project is a commission from the public art festival TUMULT. The project began in spring 2010, when Wooloo contacted a joint stock company set up by the citizens of Horbelev to create new life in their small village, which is threatened with economic and social decline.
After considering proposals for various forms of cooperation, Wooloo and the inhabitants of the village decided to erect a sculpture in Horbelev together. In return for the villagers’ efforts, Wooloo is investing its construction budget in the association.
From August 14 to 21 2010, all participating households in Horbelev stopped watching TV at home. Instead, the families met up with Wooloo to jointly build a gigantic sculpture forming the words “NEW LIFE HORBELEV” in the centre of the village, using old pallets, discarded planks, and whatever else they could find in barns and garages. When the sculpture stood completed, the TVs of all of the participating families were installed as part of the sculpture. Many screens displayed portraits of the villagers, created by Wooloo, and of their opinions about collectivity and change.
Artists' Bio:
Wooloo is a Danish artists’ group founded in 2002 by Martin Rosengaard and Sixten Kai Nielsen. Wooloo conducts social experiments in collaborative participation. Wooloo acts as an intermediary, creating the infrastructure and conditions for social experimentation. Wooloo regards “hospitality” as the medium in which they operate. The New Life projects explore new ways of living together; these works simultaneously re-examine established modes of living and interacting and question their underlying political and economic structures. For Manifesta 8, Wooloo created New Life Residency (2010), a week-long non-visual residency program pairing blind local inhabitants of Murcia with artists living and working in complete darkness.