Screening of “Sea Lovers” by Ingo Niermann

Large parts of the sea are used in a similar fashion to the countryside. Still, its liquidity and enormous size sustain substantial differences. The oceans slip away from national and personal liability. The video Sea Lovers portrays a group of people who aspire to a more intimate relation with the ocean. They try to learn to enjoy not just the lovable and the intelligent but also the gloomy and the uncanny. Via exercise and technology, they work towards a sea of love where all creatures help and celebrate each other. Written and directed by Ingo Niermann and filmed and edited by Roman Bayarri Sea Lovers features Ana María Millán and the fellows of the TBA21–Academy, The Current II, Expedition #2, “The Solomon Exercises”, which was led by Chus Martínez. The score has been created by producer Ville Haimala and the singers Franziska Aigner and Dan Bodan. The film was commissioned by TBA21–Academy.

Sea Lovers, 2020
Duration: 20 min
Written and directed by: Ingo Niermann
Featuring performances by: Ana María Millán and the fellows of the TBA21–Academy, The Current II, Expedition #2, “The Solomon Exercises”, led by Chus Martínez
Filmed and edited by: Roman Bayarri, with additional footage by: Pierre Beltran (drone and underwater), Ana María Millán (dog, worms), Daniel Patterson (dolphins), Francesca Thyssen-Bornemisza (octopus)
Score: Spoken and sung by Franziska Aigner and Dan Bodan
Produced by: Ville Haimala
Commissioned by: TBA21–Academy

Ingo Niermann (b. 1969, Bielefeld) is a novelist, writer, and artist. Since 2008 Niermann has been the editor of Solution, a series published by Sternberg Press, whose last issue explores the bio-political and psychosexual topic of love. Following his debut novel Der Effekt (2001) recent books have included The Future of Art: A Manual (Sternberg Press, 2011) and The Curious World of Drugs and Their Friends (Turnaround, 2008).