Symbiotic Surfaces (Black Box teater Beings) is a public work of scenography developed by Jakob Oredsson for the facade of Black Box teater. The work is a celebration of Black Box teater, the beings it hosts, has hosted and will host in the future, the multitudes of stories constituting the theater. Oredsson’s work enters into a dialogue with the current situation Black Box teater is in, now that the building in Marstrandgata 8 is to be demolished and the theater must seek a new future home. Symbiotic Surfaces (Black Box teater Beings) brings the theater into the surrounding public environment, inverting it, inside surfaces of the theater to its outside surface.

The work consists of a constant stream of images which carry traces of the diverse stories of the place. Images of marks that everyone who has worked in the building has a relationship with, images that are clear signs of theater production, images of neglected events, of valued events, intimate relationships, collective achievements, images of architectural details and historical events from before Black Box teater moved into the building. This flow of images brings a feeling of the theater out to the street and invites passers-by to reflect upon the inside of this creative environment.

Jakob Oredsson is an artist and architect who has created scenography for numerous performances at Black Box teater. Symbiotic Surfaces is Oredsson’s first solo work at Black Box teater, and is part of the artistic research project Scenography as Symbiosis at the Academy of Performing Arts, Østfold University College.