LOBBYISTS

In their video work Lobbyists, Libia Castro and Ólafur Ólafsson portray lobbyists and counter lobbyists at work, exploring the maelstrom surrounding their activity in Brussels and Strasbourg. In preparation for their work, the artists studied historical and contemporary sources on the figure of the lobbyist, interviewed and filmed a variety of people associated with lobbyists' associations and civilian “watchdog” groups, and dug into documentary, news reals and music videos. They commissioned British reporter and activist Tamasin Cave to write an article with their material about the current situation between big industry lobbies and activists and NGOs in their attempt to create a mandatory register of the pressure groups, demanding transparency in the European Parliament.

British actress Caroline Dalton and the Icelandic reggae group Hjálmar give voice to Cave´s text as lyrics to a new song becoming the soundtrack to their video. The video touches on different genres, juxtaposing a video recording of lobbyists and activists at work with the newspaper article vocalized to dub music - throughout the work humor is a reflective and alienating element. These contrasting, juxtaposed and sometimes alienating elements hope to trigger the viewer´s active involvement and reflection on the subject of the work as well as on the use of the medium.

Lobbyists received the third Prize of the renowned Prix de Rome (ed. 2009), The Dutch Award for Contemporary Art. It has been shown in different venues and film festivals worldwide.