'The Nancy Holt Teleportation Device'
Various Participants at Goethe On MainRobyn Cook and Lauren von Gogh are the Sober & Lonely Institute for Contemporary Art, and have been loosely operating in Joburg, Durban, Los Angeles, Beetsterzwaag, Haukijärvi and the Internet for the past two and a half years.
In 2008, they started experimenting with telepathy, just before being separated by 13 468 km for two years. They had already been thinking each other’s thoughts for four years before that, and Lauren's grandfather was a magician that specialized in telepathic and hypnotic performances - so the practice of telepathy came naturally to them. Having thought transferal as a secondary means of communication for when they are separated by long distances has proved useful and comedic at the same time.
It would, however, be even more beneficial to be able to quickly, and cost effectively transport themselves from the bottom of Africa to wherever they need to be. They're working on figuring this out - connecting portals to portals - and making new connections in relevant places. In April 2012, they discovered what is thought to be one of the main portals. It is a Nancy Holt land art piece in the Finnish countryside, called Up & Under. At the end of August, Sober & Lonely invited the audience of the Transcontinental Express to build their own portals to connect with them in Johannesburg for their project at GoetheonMain.
This November, Sober & Lonely will build the Nancy Holt Teleportation Device at GoetheonMain, attempting to teleport objects, animals, and people to Up & Under, the Mojave Desert, and various other portals that may be open. Free tours will be available to teleport to Up and Under in the village of Pinsiö in the west of Finland, and to explore The Quietest Place on Earth, The Nancy Holt Teleportation Device Information Kiosk, The Twilight Room, The Kahvila Konditoria (with soapy cake), the Nancy Holt Teleportation Device Souvenir Shop, and the Centre of the World.
Opening Reception: 21 November from 18h30 at GoetheonMain, 245 Main Street, Johannesburg
The Nancy Holt Teleportation Device will be open from the 22nd of November to the 15th of December on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 10am – 5pm.
22 November - 15 December
