My Sanctuary

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Sound- and sculpture installation

Socle du Monde Art Festival 2024, HEART Herning Museum of Contemporary Art

Duration 8 min loop

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Rubble, rebar, acrylic one and the hymn Mit helle performed by Herning Church's Boys' Choir

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The work My Sanctuary is based on a personal story of losing one’s ‘sanctuary’ and living in a state of transition where a physical sanctuary transforms into a spiritual one. Here, sanctuary can be a safe space, a place of refuge, or a person who protects you unconditionally.

 

»I am a sanctuary. I am your sanctuary. And I always will be«.

 

These words were spoken by Benedicte’s mother two months before she passed away. The quote became the basis for the entire work Mit helle. When your person of sanctuary dies, you must find them anew in a spiritual form. What was once corporeal becomes spiritual in the advent of death. In Benedict's installation she has tried to create a space for grief, which is rare to find in public spaces. Step into the landscape and place yourself somewhere you can find peace for contemplation.

The installation forms a landscape consisting of broken walls, foundations and what used to be walls of a home. You walk among rubble where white mussels have settled. Seashells constitute a home for other bodies. Bodies of water. Some of the shells are broken, some are not. Are they taking residence in a new habitat? Are they here to heal? They have attached themselves to the reinforcing bars. Are they forming a new refuge, a new home; a new sanctuary?

 

The sound of the Herning Church Boys’ Choir is heard in the installation. Their singing of the hymn Mit helle (My Sanctuary) is a central part of the work. The hymn was performed live for the opening of the festival and is shown as a documentation video at HEART. The hymn is written for the installation by Iben Krogsdal, composed by Malene Rigtrup and conducted by Severin Korsgaard from The Jutland School of Singing. Sound design by Anders Hjortdal. Rental of sound equipment Lystek ApS.

 

The rubble is donated by the contractor company Markussen ApS in Skave.

 

Curator: Sara Duborg Døssing

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