The Informals II

Film and sound artists Polina Medvedeva and Andreas Kühne have created immersive multi-channel audio-visual installation The Informals II, a live documentary performance and installation that focuses on Brighton’s youth music culture, world premiering at Brighton Festival. 

Informals II follows on from Informals/Неформалы, a partly autobiographical improvised documentary created when Polina and Andreas travelled to the former military zone of theMurmansk region of Northern Russia, where Polina was born. To create the piece, they researched the digital natives of the area, who - to escape the norms and social constructs of the place - gravitate to deserted spaces, where they collectively improvise with it to reclaim its use and add a new layer to its genealogy. 

During their art residency at Lighthouse in 2019, Polina and Andreas got in contact with a lot of young musicians, which, similarly to the characters in their Russian work were dealing with projection and stigma, albeit in a different context – in the midst of Brexit and ahead of the 2019 elections, in a climate of neo-liberalist right wing politics which has resulted in a lot of budget cuts for young people.