Emanuel Röhss: Location Scout

As the inaugural part of the program for the exhibition MAD HORIZON, Emanuel Röhss presents a performance based on his recently published book, Location Scout. The performance is a collaboration with the musician Anne Gry Friis Kristensen and four actors. The outset is a table read – the preliminary chemistry read session between the cast for a movie prior to rehearsals and the shoot on set.

The story revolves around a Swedish-American couple. Breaking into the Ennis House in Los Angeles, they enter an oneiric state and are confronted with a number of fantastical scenarios. For the performance Friis has developed a soundtrack that re-imagines the acoustics of the Ennis House through the films that used the building as a location. Friis will perform the score live during the performance. LOCATION SCOUT has been conceived as part of a project that commenced in early 2015 researching the character of the Ennis House in Hollywood’s movie industries. The reading is part of Röhss’ trajectory towards an adoption of the story for the screen.

With Frida Liljevall (Marina), Alexander Ohakas (Gustav), Jonathan Blode (Dr. Cole), Josefine Alhanko Ljungberg (Rachel), narrator: Jeff Rian.

Anne Gry Friis Kristensen is a danish sound artist, educated from The National Film School of Denmark. Living and working in Paris, France and Copenhagen, Denmark, she works in the fields of film, performances and sound art, exploring the aesthetics of sound through field recordings and synthetic sounds.

Emanuel Röhss (born 1985 in Gothenburg, lives and works in Los Angeles) graduated from the Royal College of Art in London. Recent exhibitions include Invitation to Love, Thomas Duncan Gallery, Los Angeles (2016), Swedish Art: Now!, Sven Harry’s Konstmuseum, Stockholm (2016), The Night Holds Terror, SALTS Basel (2015), Boutique Litigation, T293, Rome (2015), Tomorrow London, South London Gallery (2014), and Soft Jazz, Carl Kostyál, Stockholm (2014).

The Ennis House (1924) in Los Angeles, designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright, is characteristic for its a manic repetition and excess of Mayan Revival. The building has been featured in a range of films and TV productions, including “House on Haunted Hill” (1959), “The Day of the Locust” (1975), “Blade Runner” (1982), “Twin Peaks” (1990-91) and “Rush Hour” (1998).

The performance is part of the exhibition program for MAD HORIZON.

With support by the Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency Grant, DJBFA / Composers and Songwriters, and the Hessische Kulturstiftung.