What does "community" mean in 2010? Who can create it? And can you take a common decision to (not) watch television?

NEW LIFE HORBELEV is a social experiment based in the village of Horbelev in Denmark. The project began in spring 2010, when Wooloo contacted Nordøstfalsters Fremtids-forening (the Northeast Falster Future Association), a joint stock company set up by Horbelev citizens to create new life in their small village, which is threatened with economic and social decline.

After considering proposals for various forms of co-operation, Wooloo and the village’s inhabitants decided to erect a sculpture in Horbelev together. In return for the villagers’ efforts, Wooloo is investing its construction budget in the association.

From August 14th to 21st,, all participating households in Horbelev stopped watching TV at home. Instead, the families met up with Wooloo to jointly build a gigantic sculpture forming the words ”NEW LIFE HORBELEV” in the centre of the village, using old pallets, discarded planks, and whatever else they can find in barns and garages.

When the sculpture is finished - build only be free, local materials - it will have room for all the TVs of the participating households. Once installed in the sculpture, the many screens will, for the following week, display portraits created by Wooloo of villagers and their opinions about collectivity and change.

NEW LIFE HORBELEV examines and challenges the local community. At the same time, Wooloo also aims at provoking with a mixture of seriousness and satire on the notion that an artist can come along with a big idea and think s/he can save an entire community. By asking questions about the idea of the free and common life, the project challenges not only Horbelev residents, but all of us, to reconsider our concept of community and who can create it.

The sculpture can be experienced 24 hours a day from Saturday, August 21st, 2010 at Bønnetvej 6, Horbelev, Denmark. It was originally planned that the sculpture should be taken down after one week, but the Horbelev citizens have decieded to let it stand.