4K video, 9,50 min, b&w, sound,
German with English subtitles,
styrofoam light box,
colored glass; variable dimensions,
The Song of Polysiren explores polystyrene waste from the sea, focusing on its visual, tactile, and auditory qualities. In the video, we see children from a bird's eye view against a black background, seemingly studying the sound and shape of Styrofoam pieces by touching, tapping, drumming, and rubbing. In other scenes, the children are shown playing without intention—making music or spinning in circles in slow motion. The video is accompanied by a child's voice explaining in a text book manner plastic material, its production, chemical nature, and origin and speculating about a future. The title and narration is inspired by Alain Resnais' 1959 documentary Le Chant du Styrène, which was made for the French industrial group Pechiney to highlight the virtues of plastics is set in contrast with our current climate crisises. The children’s play with the Styrofoam and voice evokes an eerie tension and a feeling of cheerful seriousness. The video is divided into chapters, each titled with the letter of the C scale and takes up the idea of a song, which is reflected in the title of the work and the film scenes.
The video is the second part of an ongoing project that began last year in conjunction with a site-specific exhibition in Jeju. Styrofoam was collected along the island's coastline and then transformed into hybrid glass objects that mimic the surface texture and color of coastal rocks while their shapes are based on pieces of Styrofoam collected from the same location. The two works can be exhibited together or separately.
The video was created in cooperation with the kindergarten of the German School Seoul.
Project assistance and structuring: Malte Min, Sandra Tjan
Sound: Kat Austen, Sascha Pohle
Editing and concept: Sascha Pohle
Sound: Kat Austen, Sascha Pohle
Editing and concept: Sascha Pohle
