For its first participation in LOOP Fair Barcelona Dürst Britt & Mayhew is premiering the videowork Solitary Company by Puck Verkade.
Solitary Company is a portrait of a remote island as seen through the eyes of its inhabitants. It was filmed in the micro-community of Hrisey, an island off the north coast of Iceland. Filming took place during the darkest months in winter when all is covered in snow and silence. During a month-long residency on Hrisey, Puck Verkade conducted interviews with three generations of local people, about their personal connection with the island, the effect of living in such a small community off the mainland, and their relationship to silence. Throughout the video we never get to see the faces of the interviewees, only their backs and the views they can see through the windows. The island itself thus becomes an additional character, showing its empty landscape and silent presence. The circular frame stresses visual isolation as well as the physical borders of the island. Essentially the narrative reflects on the borders of solitude, on silence and its inevitable connection to mortality.
