Hominem te memento

In ancient Rome, the emperor's triumphal parades with animals, dancers and chained prisoners passed Circus Maximus, Palatine Hill, Forum, to Capitol Hill. The emperor, draped in gold and ivory, rode in a chariot with a slave holding a crown above, whispering continuously "Respice post te – hominem te memento." At zenith, the emperor was cautioned: "Look behind you, remember you are only a human."

In spring 2011, Lange spent a semester in Rome with her daughter. She recalls: During the stay, I attempted to (re)orient myself in Italian politics, society, and history. Simultaneously, the world witnessed dramatic events: NATO's bombing of Libya, massive refugee flows to Lampedusa, the liquidation of Bin Laden, the Arab Spring with upheavals in North Africa and the Middle East, legal proceedings against Berlusconi, a referendum on the privatization of water resources and nuclear power plants in Italy.

Against this backdrop, "Hominem te memento" emerged as an existential and dystopian image. An old friend, Riccardo de Torrebruna, an Italian actor, author, and theater director, stepped in. I found the right location, with multiple temporal layers in the imagery. On the day of filming, we were in the ancient park of Villa Celimontana. Technical equipment was rented, my friend, Aude Fourel, a French artist, managed the sound boom, while eleven-year-old Alva also contributed. All was well, except for the state reception taking place nearby on Via dei Fori Imperiali, with endless noise from sirens, helicopters, and more. It took time to realize that the recordings, which I thought were total failures, were, in fact, golden, and that everything that disturbed, even Riccardo moving in and out of the role of emperor and slave in heartfelt frustration, only intensified the underlying idea of the work.

Andrea Lange is a Norwegian visual artist (b. 1967). Her work explores the intersection of reality and utopia through audio and video, photography, and public space interventions. Weaving together political contexts, collective history, personal narratives, and social dynamics, her art seeks a realm where poetry and politics converge into an illuminated image.

Solo shows at Kunstnerforbundet, Stenersen Museum, Henie Onstad Art Centre and UKS. Participation in numerous group exhibitions at Kunstnernes Hus, National Museum Norway, Momentum, UKS Biennial, Sørlandet Art Museum, Mucsarnok Kunsthalle Budapest, Paris Photo – Carrousel du Louvre, Belfast Exposed, Enzimi Festival in Rome, Charlottenborg in Copenhagen, La Triennale di Milano, Melbourne International Biennal, among others.