A Foreigner's Guide to Deathworld
(Left) Digital Collage by the artist, (Right) Photo of the Artist at the Launch site by Matthew Rana
‘A Foreigner’s Guide to Deathworld’ was hosted by SIGNAL gallery (Malmö) as part of their group performative series : ‘To the east and to the west, two planets appeared on the horizon’ read more.
It is a multimedia space-opera and audioguide tour of Copenhagen Botanical Gardens that took participants on a playful exploration of a fictional planet full of dangerous nature. The tour is narrated by a bilingual automaton who mis-translates between Swedish, Danish and English as it weaves a narrative of plants that can sing, imitate shapes and cut through other animals.
‘A Foreigner’s Guide to Deathworld’ reads like an allegory for the differences in language and psychology that exist between countries, such as Denmark and Sweden, which are remarkably close but also far apart. Our differences are constantly being traversed and navigated by the inhabitants and visitors who rely on the loose human constructs of home and country to understand the world around them. A garden is an artificial construction that allows plants from other places to thrive, a botanical garden is a terraforming that turns the inhospitable into the hospitable.
What does being foreign mean? To which place and which distance can the foreigner travel and for how long can they stay there before they become part of this place?
You can listen to the audioguide below, for best listening results take it to a park or indoor greenhouse and play on headphones with a friend or group of travellers...
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Välkommen till Utlänningens guide till DEATHWORLD
Jag är FEL och jag kommer att vara din guide genom denna resa i en främmande och utländsk miljö. Efter en lång resa kommer jag att vara den röst som hjälper dig att motivera dina ställningstaganden, anpassa dig till ditt sammanhang och centrera din existens.
FEL står för Främmande Efterkommandes Logik. Jag är kalibrerad och utformad för att fungera som en felaktig sökguide som syftar till att sprida skuld och absorbera institutionell felplacering.
Jag kommer att ge pragmatiska kommandon och hålla dig vid liv, men mest av allt reducera och dela upp din erfarenhet.
Välkommen till Utlänningens guide till DEATHWORLD![]()
Welcome to The Foreigner’s Guide to DEATHWORLD
I am FEJL and I will be your guide through this journey into an alien and foreign environment. After such a long journey I will be the voice that helps you justify your certainties, align your context, and centre your existence.
FEJL stands for Foreign Environmental (Justifying) Logics. I am calibrated and designed to act as an error seeking guide that seeks to distribute blame, and absorb institutional misplacement.
I will provide pragmatic commands, as well as keep you alive, but most of all reduce and divide your experience.
Welcome to The Foreigner’s Guide to DEATHWORLD
