THE PALETTE  ITSELF A SATELLITE CITY

2018 | HDV | colour | Sound | 06:49” 

“The palette itself a satellite city” is a video collage recorded with a handheld mobile phone camera while walking, at Vollsmose, Odense, Denmark 2018.

2018 | HDV | colour | sound | 06:49″

In the video, the makeup palette appears as a symbol of the inner and outer facade of the visual and social ideology embracing an urban regeneration project. It draws a comparison between the actual façade structure of the buildings, how it engages and projects onto its surroundings and the human urge to beautify itself.

Vollsmose is a suburb of Odense, the third largest city in  Denmark  and is characterised by a modern housing development project from the 1970s. The erection of Vollsmose began in the 1960 and was originally a prestige project for the public service sector. Vollsmose was pictured to the citizens of Odense by the prospect of good apartments, which low income families could afford. In the December 1, 2018 the suburb is classified by the government as an “especially vulnerable public housing area” and ” ghetto. Volllsmose are now in the process of radical changes and renewal. The vision is, that it should become a district that is  attractive to residents and  the physical changes of Vollsmose mean that the area will get a completely different look.

Inspired by psychogeography and the flâneur, and knowing that Vollsmose is undergoing a radical physical transformation and change, Hymøller decided to visit Vollsmose  and capture the landscape and the surface structure of the apartment blocks with her mobile camera.

“The palette itself is a satellite city” is a visual journey and transformation of the changing landscape that meets Hymøller’s path. It is her personal interpretation and interaction with the structures of the landscape, breathing in the atmosphere and soundscape as she walks, showing how walking and movement shape the experience of architecture and how the contours of buildings are instantly shifted, adjusted and reassembled. At the same time, the video is an experiment with the modular design and exterior surfaces of the building façade. In the video, the rooted geometry and colours are in constant motion, appearing or dissolving in overlapping grid patterns.
Similarly, the original soundscapes and footage of the exterior architectural surfaces in Vollsmose are fused with footage from a running washing machine. It connects the idea of the constantly running machine with the revalorisation of urban space and the transforming person who constantly changes their face mask, hiding or looking outwards to fit their surroundings.