Hendrik Kaljujärv's meaning-layered 'Overexposure'
In addition to recommendations, Culture.ee's English-language culture blog also provides reviews of musical, theatrical, dance and other cultural performances that take place around Estonia. In this review, Anneliis Lepp reflects on how the visuals, music as well as layers of meaning played important roles in an end of the year production of Hendrik Kaljujärv's play "Overexposure."
Hendrik Kaljujärv has once said in an interview to Priit Raud that the multitude of information and meanings of contemporary time was one of the impulses for this production. Kaljujärv says that it is not a problem for him, although it may be for many, including the writer of this review. I can feel how, having to deal with an immense amount of information, decision-making ability is the greatest virtue. I would like to know about everything that exists and is available, but, in the process, the focus might disappear altogether. One must find a specific direction in order not to dissolve into the macrocosm.
It seems that this is what Hendrik Kaljujärv attempted to say in his production when he indicated a specific direction by doing the same motion repeatedly over a few minutes. Thus keeping the focus and determination are crucial in today’s evolutional struggle for survival. I remember a conversation with a parent who said that it was so difficult to raise a normal child these days. Indeed, how do you maintain or guarantee normality, when society around you seems to be quite schizophrenic? Or what can be considered normal after all in an era that has been labeled as "post-truth?"
"Overexposure" is a term used in photography meaning excessive exposure or lighting. The text accompanying the production characterizes it as follows: "Overexposure is a decadent deed to fix, install, note down, or cross out ‘something’ — an obsessive attempt to hold onto civilization; heroic submission to environment." Keeping in mind the term’s original meaning, over-lighting, and taking into account the meaning of simple sentences I picked up from the interview following the performance, it carries the following message for me — in order to survive or maintain a civilization, we must maintain focus, although there is a lot of noise in our surroundings and the meanings are not what they used to be.
I would quote a short excerpt, as I did from the production’s accompanying text, from the poem "Nebenmensch" by Hasso Krull: "…Friendly forms are unfriendly, enjoyment itself creates unenjoyment…" Of course, this is only my interpretation of things, and I won’t presume to have understood it correctly, because as Hendrik Kaljujärv said during the Q&A following the performance, he does not want to dictate how to comprehend this play. In a post-truth society, trueness does not matter anyway. However, it seems that several layers of meanings were hidden in the play. For instance, consider the metaphor of building the chimney. I suppose everyone drew their own conclusions and made their own guesses.
In addition to conveying the message, both sound and space also created the atmosphere for the performance as well. The sound or even noise was so powerful and charming that it made me want to get up and dance — that is why my ability to focus and my perception of time and space also appeared to vanish. It seemed that this was also a reason why Hendrik Kaljujärv would keep getting up from the dining table again and again and then return to finish what he had started.
The space in which Kaljujärv’s production took place was also imposing. It consisted of walls and a floor that featured works by the artist Alar Tuul. Tuul’s works have been compared to both Jean Michel Basquiat as well as Karel Appel, who has likely inspired the artist. For me, these primitively depicted type personified the schizophrenic world in which we live and in which the performance took place.
In conclusion, the strong point of the performance of "Overexposure" was the whole created by both visuals and music and the layers of meaning that peeled out of it. I undoubtedly liked the music made for the production, which was based on ideas by Hendrik Kaljujärv and Kallervo Karu, who also performed on the drums. I have heard Kaljujärv’s piece being praised before, but unfortunately I have nothing to which to compare it. As an end of the year visit, "Overexposure" was definitely one of the productions that stayed with me — great food for thought and a musical and visual enjoyment directly after Christmas dinner and before New Year’s Eve celebrations.
Editor: Editor: Aili Vahtla