Daniel Rydh and Anna Sörenson (Sweden) have worked as an artist duo since 2014. Artists build site-specific installations centered on nature and architecture. They create temporary installation in nature, a project called ”Environmental Ephemerals”, and permanent installation both in commercial venues and public spaces. Artists work site specific, looking for the characteristics of the milieu they are in, pursuing a method of aesthetic anthropology.
Daniel Rydh studied fine art at Hogeschool voor de Kunsten in Utrecht in The Netherlands and pedagogy at Umeå University in Sweden. Anna Sörenson received her BFA from Umeå Art Academy and MFA from Pratt Institute, New York, supported by her Fulbright Scholarship. In 2014 she graduated from a.pass, a yearlong post-master program in performance art in Brussels, Belgium. Rydh /Sörenson have been invited artists-in-residence in Bains Connective, Bryssel, Belgium, Laboratory Spokane, USA and Tjørnuvík Artist House in Faroe Islands. They have been exhibited in Ten Weyngaert, the gallery space in Commune de Forest’s culture center in Brussels, Saranac Art Projects in Spokane including a public installation for Window Dressing, Spokane. They have also showed works with Ed Varie in New York, USA, during NADA art fair. The shows in 2017 – “APOCALYPSE”, Ed Varie, Los Angeles and The Nordic House, Faroe Islands. Read more about artists – http://danielrydh.com/ and http://annasorenson.se/. Photo – Unspecified Floating Object, no 2, second location Tjørnuvik, 2016.
Daniel Rydh and Anna Sörenson about their residency: ” Our stay at Rucka was focused into one artistic main project: to make a short film. We arrived in the town of Cesis with a couple of different ideas and spent the first couple of days looking at locations and gathering our general feel for the town. We found great inspiration in the aesthetics of the town with its romantic atmosphere and magical combination of turn of the century architecture and the even older, grand structures, like the medieval castle. As we arrived during the peak of autumn the many parks and green areas in, and around, the town also provided opportunity to capture a splendid nature backdrop for the film.
Our idea for our short film “The Open World” plays out like a creation story, where it’s not clear if the world is our own physical world or a digital creation. We used our idea to craft a script, a storyboard, and costume design that would use the locations as amplification method. The interior of Rucka became the residents of our main character and Rucka Park also plays an important part of the short film. Whit some assistance from our fellow artist in residence we manage to capture the essential footage in out month long stay. It was also fun way to get in contact with the other artists and their artistic projects.
We also made a new piece in our series “Environmental Ephemerals”, temporary installations created in the open landscape. The temporary flag-like sculpture “Tequila Sunrise” is photographed next to an old factory building close to Rucka park. We are very happy with our stay in Rucka and Cesis, the concentrated time and the generosity helped us develop both an interesting film, improved our working process and collaboration skills, as well as gave us inspiration for new art projects.”
Stills from short-film “The Open World” :
“Tequila Sunrise”, series of temporary installations “Environmental Ephemerals”:
