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Undead in the Night

May 28 - 30, 2009

A collaboration with Lilith Performance Studio in Malmö, Sweden that involves over 100 non-professional actors, out in the forest in the middle of the night. The artist places two undead creatures (hideous Zombies and stunning Vampires) in the same scenes with their victims, violating the codes and boundaries of the horror genre, and creating an impossible scenario. The observer becomes a visitor in a living horror movie. Starting at twilight a bus transfers the audience 8 people at a time to an undisclosed forest location. Following a path in the dark various scenes come alive along a 3 km long horror path.

"Jillian is interested in Zombies and Vampires as radically different yet universally recognizable archetypes of horror film monsters that rarely if ever appear together. They share the evil power to turn victims into monsters, and caught in the unknowable position between "alive" and "dead" they have the power to fascinate and terrorize. Zombies and Vampires have their own iconographies and characterizations that are as different as night and day. Zombies moan as they stagger stiffly and unconsciously in packs towards their single goal - to catch and consume the flesh of the living. Gruesome and rotting, they are ordinary people reincarnated as characterless and soulless ghouls. Although they are brutish, vile, and almost unstoppable, they are neither resourceful nor clever, and are imminently expendable. Vampires slink and pose with agility as they move towards the forest's edge. Aristocratic, powerful, seductive, exotic, elegant, timeless, and mysterious, they have a rich immortal life and feed off human blood. Victims sometimes beg to be "turned" into these fascinating creatures." (from the Lilith press release)

download complete press release (pdf).

PRESS:
article "Zombiefest" - Malmö Lund CITY, by Tara Moshizi, May 26 download pdf file (2-pages including cover).
TV feature "Zombievandring i mörkret" - SVT Television, May 25 - watch online
article "Zombierna Anfaller" - People Magazine (Sweden), by Mirjam Johansson, No 4- read online
article "Odödliga drömmar" - Sydsvenskan, by Karin Arbsjö, May 6 - read online, includes slideshow and audio sample.
article "Vad är det som finns i skogen?" - Sydsvenskan, by Ann Heberlein, May 31 - read online.
article "Rädslan för det okända" - Sydsvenskan, by Fredrik PÅlsson, May 30 - read online.
article "Tre kilometer skräck" - DN.se Kultur & Nöje, by Rikard Loman, May 30 - read online.
article "De ska skrämmas i skogen" - Skånskan.se, by Yvonne Erlandsson, May 25 - read online.
article "Osäkrad föreställning" - Kvällsposten Kultur KVP, by Malena Forsare, Jun 3 - read online.
radio interview "Skräckperformance i Malmö" - Sveriges Radio P1, by David Richter, May 26 - listen online.