Dmitry Paranyushkin
The Life Skills Series
video series
production PLAYBerlin.com, 2010/2011

How to be Melancholic with Diego Agullo
How to share with Eric Greene
How to breath with Perrine En Morceaux
How to cut an onion with Emma Kim Hagdahl
How to make smokerings with Berno Odo Polzer
How to make tapeloops with Simon Halsberge
How to think and talk at the same time by Byram
How to take off a bra by Myriam Van Imschoot
How to be lost with Pieter Ampe
How to rest at a working place by Lilia Mestre
How to read with Christine De Smedt


The Life Skills is an 'educational' video project initiated by Dmitry Paranyushkin and The Solvents. It is a series of short interviews where people share their essential skills addressing the future generations of humans and aliens alike. Proposed to share their knowledge in a concise, yet comprehensive manner, spelling out every detail that goes through their mind while performing the activity, protagonists give an account of seemingly ordinary activities in a very extraordinary way. The question is always the same, and the answer is easily predictable, however what comes out from The Life Skills is the specificity of each individual in the way they approach the task and interact with the interviewer. Over time these small details become more visible than the actual skill relayed. As a result, something very personal, subjective, and even emotional is given enough space to emerge within the space that’s predictable, generic, and everyday. Some people who took part in The Life Skills Series: Diego Agullo, Matt Lord, Celine Smith, Klaus Kruse, Dani d’Emilia, Christine De Smedt, Johannes Wengel, Myriam van Imschoot, Jan Ritsema, Emma Kim Hagdahl, Fruszi Jesse, Berno Odo Polzer, Nikolaus Gansterer, Peter van Bogaert, Peter Ampe, Lenia Kaklea, Jonas Nachtergale, and others.