Film by artist Signe Johannessenm a co-production with Cullberg and Accelerator. Text by Kristina Sigunsdotter. Swamp Posthumous is a further development of Signe Johannessen’s work Posthumous Dialogue which is part of the exhibition Experimentalfältet.
A GIRL
I gave birth to a girl
she barked like a dog
played with bones
her hair
always full of burdock
now she chews their roots
I gave birth to a dog
she barked like a man
hunted
her mouth
always full of feathers
now she chews their bones
I gave birth to a girl
silent
silent
her mouth
full of mud
now she dances
SECRETS
Your dog mouth makes me so sad
I cant write because I
I need to stop and
touch myself
keep all the secrets that lay
hidded under us
keep track of
the marshes
our arcives
of secrets
of bones
LAND OF THE KENTAUR
Why do you need to be a horse?
you know
you could have talked to us
we also have ears
and mouths
and eyes
big brown horse eyes
wild female eyes
WETLANDS
an ammonite on the bottom of the sea
a shell
a woman
the miry
the last
spread her legs
leave her to dry in the sun
her miry hymen dried by wind and sun
a body
a shell
THE AGE OF EVE / DOLL PARTS
The age of
the age of
the age of Eve
the rib they put in me
they, the Gods
it itches
please remove what is not mine
please
stop playing with me
I am not yours
not anyone’s
doll parts
why am I still here?
why do you talk about my shame?
do you even know shame?
can you speak it’s language?
I was born into it
drowned in it.
his rib
it tears and tears in me
his virginity
MARY´S LOVER
How soft they love
the lovers
golden eyes
and golden horns
the lovers
so gentle
the horse
touching her belly
she moans
touch me, touch me
please don't stop
cleanse me from their poison and disease
let me ride you
RITES OF PASSAGE
We brought symbols from before we were human
symbols of snakes
of horses
powerful horses
Nosferatu lies in soil
washed by
white and black waters
watches you
when you dive
Eau de Nil
When you slept
you slept in narwahl waters
a filled womb
the same water I was sacrificed in
as we all were sacrificed in
female liquids
in and out of us
through us
like rivers
urine and tears
a rippling stream
of white, white water
PSALM ZERO
find her tooth
and wait for the caravan
hear her name in ocean shells
spell her name in the shadows
sleep with her
in narwahl waters
her love
like rivers
MARSH MIRE MUD
Signe
Signe
the king’s daughter
who loves all who love her
they said
they
who called her Sinnamon
we called her Reinrose
because it grows alone
as she did
we tickled the roots of the flowers she picked
on her way to the white water
blåklokke
rødsildre
hvitlyng
and we whispered
watch out Reinrose
watch out for the white water
it leads to the kelp forest
where little girls get lost
(girls get lost so easily)
Ocean! Ocean! she echoed
Kelp, kelp!
take me in
protect me
Reinrose, Reinrose
take us in
protect us
keep us
wrap us in your skin
just bones
just bones
not ours
not anyones
marsh mire mud
carnivorous plants
carnivorous people
marsh mire mud
Reinrose, Reinrose
wrap us in your skin
we saw your rituals with earthworms, beetles
we heard you whisper
så så Rauen
we heard you sing for the
cats and cows
we were there
under you
we felt your
naked footsteps
balancing the hassock grass heads
transformation
transgression
hybrid creatures
relationships
human
animal
plant
who are you?
they
they found her
they found her
but they didn't find us
exhale exhale
for us Reinrose
like you
we were once fetuses
growing in a womb
like you
we were born with a debt
but we paid it off with our bodies
have you paid your debts Reinrose?
do you think this is some kind of game?
watch your steps
we are under you
and under
and under
girls get lost so easily
in tang and tare
we are they
they who existed before man