Site Specific Installation Stokkøya, Norway 2018

 

Language, miscommunication, mapping the territory and myth creation were the concepts explored in the development of the installation Finding Kjølna. A response to the physical environment was combined with reflections on wider concerns, such as the current scenario of post-truth politics, ubiquity of information and the sense of being lost.

A hand-drawn map given to the Stokkøyart residents guided them to one of the island’s natural attractions, the Kjølna Cave. In following the map’s directions, what was set to be a twenty minute walk unfolded into a 4 hour long journey. The expedition ended unsuccessfully and the artists still have no proof that the cave really exists. The final work, based on this idea that the cave may in fact not be real, was based solely on the lines, folds and small details taken from the map. The farm (starting point), the two mountains (go between them), the scribble (indicating to keep to the right), the cave (goal). These main points, along with other accidentally marked details, and the stains caused by rain during the walk have transformed the drawing, from something designed to give precise directions, to an almost abstract site-specific sculpture. The map is no longer a useful diagram, but it has been reimagined and transformed into tangible objects that will prosper the myth of Kjølna.