Electricity is a vital, but invisible, component of modern life. The new and controversial phenomenon of electro-hypersensitivity – oversensitivity to electro-magnetic fields from mobile phones, power lines etc. – dramatically illustrates our dependence on electricity. What would happen in our society if more and more people were to develop oversensitivity? What would a society without electricity look like?

We worked on this project for four years. During that period, we interviewed people with electrohypersensitivity along with a scientist and other experts, and over time we developed a scenario. The footage was mainly filmed with a spring-driven 16 mm camera, but we also used a digital video camera, some historical footage and stills. The sound was recorded on an old tape recorder in order to minimize electromagnetic stress during the interviews.

Fugitives from the field has previously been exhibited at Gothenburg’s Museum of Art, ‘BLICK’ at the Modern Museum in Stockholm, at Kunstverein in Munich in Germany and recently at four locations in Gävleborg, Sweden. The film has received the Diesel New Art Award.