OUR HOUSE IS ON FIRE

"Our house is on fire. I’m here to say, our house is on fire."

Those were climate activist Greta Thunberg's words at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos in January 2019. The installation artwork Our House Is On Fire is based on these exact words.

Our House Is On Fire is an installation artwork intensely focused on the ongoing climate emergency. The minimalist construction is built almost entirely by recycled materials from previous SIIKU artworks, and creates the outline of the house. Animated LED lights create the illusion of a flaming fire in interaction with the circular reflection pool placed at the center of the house on fire.

The artwork debuted in September 2021 as a combined installation and sound art work co-created by SIIKU and author/poet Silja E.K. Henderson, in collaboration with art center Kunstforeningen GL STRAND. On show in front of the art center in Gammel Strand, Copenhagen, the artwork was opened with speeches by the artists as well as NGOs NOAH and Fridays For Future DK, and was closed with a ceremony and performance by artist-activist Ida Dalsgaard Nicolaisen.

The realization of the initial edition was created by SIIKU and Silja E. K. Henderson, supported by Slots- og Kulturstyrelsen and Rådet for Visuel Kunst in collaboration with Klimastrejke - Fridaysforfuture Denmark, NOAH, and Kunstforeningen GL STRAND.

In the summer of 2022, Our House Is On Fire will be on show as and installation artwork at Folkemødet, June 16-19 and at Ungdommens Folkemødet, September 7-8.

SILJA E. K. HENDERSON (b. 1981) is an author and a poet with a background in disaster psychology. Among other things, she has published the hybrid poetry work 1.7 Tipping Point in 2018. SIIKU and Henderson have collaborated several times, including at SIIKU's solo exhibition, Meltage (2019) in Gjethuset.

Silja E. K. Henderson created the poem ”Hvor går vi hen” and the soundscape "Our House Is On Fire" for the first edition of Our House Is On Fire, both available on this website, please see below.

Video By: Slow Bee Studio

Photos by Slow Bee Studio, 2021

Our House Is On Fire – lydlandskab (mp3)

Silja E.K. Henderson, 2021

Lyden af en skovbrand og et hus der brænder, blander sig med sang og børnestemmer hen over kaldet fra den australske fløjtefugl, som efter heftige skovbrande har lært sig at mime lyden af brandsirener.

Hvor går vi hen – lyddigt (mp3)

Silja E.K. Henderson, 2021

”Det vil fyge med brændende æbleblomster. Hvor går vi hen?...”

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