Interior Scholarship | Blog 02-2017 | Christopher Hansen
The fiction that I have been working on has deviated from the typical storyline. I have had trouble with spending a bit too much time on this and trying to avoid falling into the trap of creating a grand narrative for my project, that attempts to depict the totality of life on Mars in the future. From the very beginning I have wanted to avoid any clear solution on my part, but rather initiate a reflective response from the viewer.
The story has now turned into a series of messages from the perspective of a newly immigrated human being to Mars and how this person experiences the transition into the new world from the old. The idea has been to use this narrative as a way of filling in the gaps between the two polar scales that I am working with, in order to give insight into what life might possibly be like. These fragmented moments, memories and thoughts from the character are meant to portray micro utopias and dystopias that exist within everyday life, using small situations and observations to paint the bigger picture as opposed to designing and deciding on how society would function on a grand level. This also has to do with avoiding a strict utopian or dystopian outlook on the future, which tends not to be so true in regards to real life. The future is usually a bit of both worlds.
By using this format of messages sent home to Earth from Mars, it also allows me to address specific issues that I would like to bring up, but in a subtle way. The person that the main character is writing or speaking to, becomes the audience, which I think is a nice way to explain things. These `letters´ are portrayed in short films of around 1-2 minutes, where the immigrant reflects on life, while images of what he or she sees and thinks about pass by on the screen. I have not decided whether to narrate the movie or to only use subtitles. The title is called “News From Home?”, which is an appropriation of the short film by Chantel Akerman. In Akerman’s film, she has recorded scenes around the city in New York, while she reads letters that her mother has sent her from Belgium. Throughout the movie one begins to get an understanding of who her family is and how their lives are in Belgium.
About Christopher Hansen
Rooms with their many meanings and interpretations are at the centre of Christopher Hansen's attention. Christopher is studying for Master's degree in "Spatial and Furniture Design" at the Oslo Academy of the Arts. In order to allow him to completely focus on his interior design studies, he will receive the "Interior Scholarship" – the Sto Foundation's AIT scholarship. In the 2016/17 academic year, it is being awarded to four students who stood out through their pronounced attitude and creative way of thinking. Christopher believes that the possibility of publishing his own ideas and his own work on a major platform is of great importance for his future path as a designer. This also applies to financial support. He thinks that initiatives for committed students are very important and is pleased that he was lucky enough to be chosen for one.
