Kent Olofsson
Senior lecturer (Leave of Absence)
Independence Day : The truth, the stories and Ailees Wuornos
Author
Other contributions
- Kent Olofsson
- Jörgen Dahlqvist
- Kent Olofsson
Summary, in English
INDEPENDENCE DAY is a furious and poetic performance that dissolves, destroys and liberates the theatre and the music, the chronology and the linear narratives, letting the world unfold by carefully cutting it apart without putting it together again.
October 9, 2002: Aileen Wuornos’s last words before her execution: I'd just like to say I'm sailing with the Rock, and I'll be back like Independence Day, with Jesus, June 6. Just like the movie, big mother ship and all. I'll be back.
June 6, 2018: A break from rehearsals at Turteatern in Stockholm. Wego to the square outside. Swedish National day celebrations. Lots of people and joyful activities. A rabbit comes along and hugs Nina. We take a picture and go back into the theater.
July 4, 1990: A warning goes out to all white middle-aged business-looking men traveling alone on the highways in Florida. Seven men have been found dead, naked and brutally murdered in the woods along Highway I-75. It’s a serial killer with a feminine twist. Aileen, a poor homeless hitchhiking hooker is arrested for the murders. She is convicted to death. Six times.
"A raped woman got executed. And was used for books and movies and shit."
Countless documentaries, books and movies have been made on the “true story” of Aileen. The most famous one the Oscar-winning movie Monster. What is it we want to know?
We start in Nina’s fascination with Aileen. The identification. A strong pressure against the skin. Sonic Pressure. Maybe it’s about the rage? Maybe an idolatry? The desire to personalize the lesbian avenging whore. But also something more fragile, a sincere attempt to approach Aileen.
We continue our search for the truth. Not the answer to the question Did she kill those men in self defense or in cold blood? Not an attempt to be trustworthy and identifiable. It seems Aileen could never become trustworthy. Sonic Pressure. Maybe the truth is always something we cannot recognize …
"I know you guys, you pre-tape and you clip and stuff..."
We begin to cut up. The movies, the interviews, our own conversations. Physicists have concluded that even in the smallest particles, reality is many things at the same time. It depends on how we look at it. It depends on the questions we ask. We are searching for the place beyond words. The silence, the limit of what we don’t want to know. To open ourselves to the world instead of consuming the world.
"Yeah thanks a lot! 2019 a rock is supposed to hit you anyhow. You’re all gonna get nuked!"
October 9, 2002: Aileen Wuornos’s last words before her execution: I'd just like to say I'm sailing with the Rock, and I'll be back like Independence Day, with Jesus, June 6. Just like the movie, big mother ship and all. I'll be back.
June 6, 2018: A break from rehearsals at Turteatern in Stockholm. Wego to the square outside. Swedish National day celebrations. Lots of people and joyful activities. A rabbit comes along and hugs Nina. We take a picture and go back into the theater.
July 4, 1990: A warning goes out to all white middle-aged business-looking men traveling alone on the highways in Florida. Seven men have been found dead, naked and brutally murdered in the woods along Highway I-75. It’s a serial killer with a feminine twist. Aileen, a poor homeless hitchhiking hooker is arrested for the murders. She is convicted to death. Six times.
"A raped woman got executed. And was used for books and movies and shit."
Countless documentaries, books and movies have been made on the “true story” of Aileen. The most famous one the Oscar-winning movie Monster. What is it we want to know?
We start in Nina’s fascination with Aileen. The identification. A strong pressure against the skin. Sonic Pressure. Maybe it’s about the rage? Maybe an idolatry? The desire to personalize the lesbian avenging whore. But also something more fragile, a sincere attempt to approach Aileen.
We continue our search for the truth. Not the answer to the question Did she kill those men in self defense or in cold blood? Not an attempt to be trustworthy and identifiable. It seems Aileen could never become trustworthy. Sonic Pressure. Maybe the truth is always something we cannot recognize …
"I know you guys, you pre-tape and you clip and stuff..."
We begin to cut up. The movies, the interviews, our own conversations. Physicists have concluded that even in the smallest particles, reality is many things at the same time. It depends on how we look at it. It depends on the questions we ask. We are searching for the place beyond words. The silence, the limit of what we don’t want to know. To open ourselves to the world instead of consuming the world.
"Yeah thanks a lot! 2019 a rock is supposed to hit you anyhow. You’re all gonna get nuked!"
Department/s
- Teachers (Malmö Academy of Music)
- Inter Arts Center
- Teachers (Malmö Theatre Academy)
Publishing year
2018-08-23
Language
English
Document type
Artistic work
Topic
- Performing Arts
Keywords
- Theatre
- Performance
- Documentary material in art
- Sonic Scenography
- Dramaturgy
- Musical Composition
- Performing Art
Status
Published