For the Dial Beckons by Linnea Langfjord Kristensen

A Piano Played By Ear

Curated by Paola Paleari

December 6, 2023 – January 3, 2024

Linnea Langfjord Kristensen

For the Dial Beckons, 2023

HD video and sound, single screen, subtitled, 41:36 min

For the Dial Beckons is a poetic and humorous performance film seeking to uncover some of the social and institutional norms that shape our understanding of the “successful individual”.

Bathed in a mysterious glow, the performance starts by following three women talking about a community they have built, based on methods for interpersonal relationships in stark contrast to our contemporary culture’s promotion of personal gain in fast-paced environments. In a society obsessed with self-investment, productivity, and rapid growth, these women have chosen to embrace a radical concept: slowness.
A sudden shift in the atmosphere introduces us to the Moderator, who offers the women a panel discussion to share their unconventional methods with the world. However, the Moderator steers them toward a path of absurd idolisation in front of a swooning audience, straying them from the genuine conversation they intended.

Can the women and their transformative ideas break free from the relentless cycle of performance, competition, and optimisation? Or will they succumb to the machinery of success, driven by the Moderator’s quest to fulfil her potential at any cost?

CREDITS

Concept and script: Linnea Langfjord Kristensen
Director: Sophie Grodin
Sound Design: Jamie Maule
Cast: Susanne Bøgeløv Storm, Hebba Nour El Din Auis, Alexandra Alexiou, Desiré Mangaard, Sølvia Hvidtfelt, Thalita Beltrão Sørensen
Production Assistant: Ida Brottmann

Linnea Langfjord Kristensen (b. 1991, DK) lives and works in Copenhagen, London and Amsterdam. She is an award-winning artist working between performance, text, and film supported by scenographic installations. Her work has been shown and published nationally and internationally including The Stedelijk Museum (Amsterdam), Cockpit Theatre (London), Martin Asbæk Gallery and Teater Får302 (Copenhagen). She is Associate Lecturer in Art and Media at Coventry University, England and has a Master’s degree from the Royal College of Art, London (2020), as well as a BA in Fine Arts from Gerrit Rietveld Academie, Amsterdam (2017).

Paola Paleari (b. 1984) is an Italian independent writer, editor and curator based in Copenhagen. She co-curated the Contemporary Art Program 2021-2022 at Vestjyllands Kunstpavillon and has directed the exhibition platform JIR SANDEL since 2018. She writes extensively about contemporary art and between 2013 and 2018 she covered the position of Deputy Editor at YET magazine. Her main area of interest is the photographic language and its relations with contemporary visual culture and art practices. She is also interested in the intersection between critical and creative writing and often intertwines art criticism with other forms of storytelling.

Linnea Langfjord Kristensen, For the Dial Beckons, 2023, HD video and sound, single screen, subtitled, 41:36 min