All of the works in “THE OLD WORLD“ deal with the monolithic concept of European history and culture, which the artists have previously examined through their staging of twisted domestic interiors, most recently in their exhibition “Tomorrow” at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, 2013 and in “The Collectors” at the 53rd Venice Biennale, 2009. Elmgreen & Dragset often construct scenarios with a loose narrative thread to be filled in and completed by the audience. As a visitor to one of Elmgreen & Dragset’s shows, you often get the feeling that an activity has been going on prior to your arrival or is just about to happen – and that you as the audience will play a part in some sort of scripted, but as yet unknown, performance.
Many of Elmgreen & Dragset’s exhibitions are reminiscent of film sets. With their ongoing interest in extended and compressed time within different modes of narratives, the artists will utilize the exhibition setting of “THE OLD WORLD” to shoot a black and white short film. The film will show how an exhibition truly comes to life only through its visitors. With the help of professional actors from Hong Kong’s vital film industry, characters such as an art critic, a collector, a student and a cleaner will appear in a series of interconnected, small scenes. Filmed from the perspective of the exhibition itself, giving the artworks the opportunity to tell the story from their point of view, the film chronicles the “life of an exhibition”. Like Mahler’s unfinished symphony, the entire exhibition can be conceived of as an unfinished portrait, up to the audience to complete.