In Heaven We Feed Each Other is a video installation that explores themes of collaboration, interdependence, and shared humanity. Inspired by the Chinese parable of the long chopsticks, the work juxtaposes two contrasting scenarios—Heaven and Hell—to highlight the fragile balance between connection and isolation. In Heaven, people use long chopsticks to feed one another, fostering mutual care and cooperation, while in Hell, they remain hungry and frustrated, unable to feed themselves. These scenes are reenacted in parallel video loops, inviting viewers to reflect on the conditions that enable or hinder community-building.

The installation was originally conceived after an arts-based ethnography course on Lesbos, where an improvised dinner with refugees, students, and volunteers became a pivotal moment of encounter and exchange. The first version of the installation was exhibited as part of Site Lesvos: Kollektivutstilling at Verkstedhallene, Kristiansand, in October 2018. It featured video projections alongside three hand-crafted long chopsticks made of pine wood, painted yellow, and secured with magenta rubber bands. These chopsticks, created specifically to shoot the scenes, served both as tools for the actors to eat and as symbols of adaptation, collaboration, and the physicality of relational dynamics.

In its second iteration, presented at Ethnofest in 2019, the work evolved through a critical lens. The chopsticks were omitted, and the video loops were displayed on two flat screens in a smaller, more focused presentation. Opposite the screens, a poster with photographs from the dinner and a brief contextual description connected the installation to its origins, reframing the work as a reflective commentary on the ethics of participation and the tension between intention and accident in artistic practice.

Conceptual Background
The shift from direct documentation to visual metaphor was already present in the first version of the work. The choice to reenact the parable of the long chopsticks visually distanced the installation from the original event while preserving its thematic essence. What changed in the second version was the inclusion of a nod to the original experience through the poster and contextualization. This addition problematized the circumstances that led to the shift from documentation to conceptual work, inviting viewers to reflect on the ethical and representational challenges inherent in participatory practices.