Fly me to the moon

FLY ME TO THE MOON (2011)

Mixed media installation

8’21 min video loop, stereo, projection

6’18 min video loop, silent, in monitor

Photographic c-print, 166×116 cm

Photographic c-print Hahnemühle Photo Rag, 72×53 cm

Sculpture 50x46x13 cm

FLY ME TO THE MOON (2011)

Installation view, Goldsmiths, University of, London, UK

Born Schwartz met Lenn when she was jogging in my local park. He would sit at his scooter, every day, at the same spot on top of the hill; viewing the panoramic scenery of London while surrounded by classic music from his small portable radio. Lenn always says “hi” to everyone passing by and gives encouraging words to the running people. One day, she started talking to him. He told her then that he was not afraid of dying, and that he had lived a wonderful life. After this meeting she started to film Lenn in the park and at his nearby home where we watched the opera ‘Turandot’ several times. She also started filming the jukebox in a pub next to her house. The jukebox had an appearance of an old jukebox, but it had been digitalized and was called ‘Digital Nostalgia’. Not many people in the pub use it, instead the radio-channel ‘Gold’ plays out music from a speaker behind the bar.

The ship derives from her personal archive, a past love. She visited Lenn several times, and they talked about his life. He was a pilot under the Second World War, then became an opera singer and an actor after that. They spoke about past relationships, emotions, life and death. But mostly, they talked about music.