Kraftlaus
How can an entity as large as a glacier fight back when it is threatened? Is it
possible to relate to this “being”? Does it experience anxiety, happiness, or anger?
Is it aware of human actions?
Kraftlaus (meaning "powerless" in Icelandic) is a site-specific
audiovisual interactive installation that
tells non-linear stories of
the glacier: stories of death and rebirth, of microscopic beings trapped within it, of ash falling and darkening the landscape, and of how humans dissect, analyze, quantify, and consume the glacier. But above all, it tells the story of how the glacier is powerless to resist—because nature rarely fights back against human impact.
Originally, the idea was about sampling
glacier water to find ancient pathogens, however as the expeditions and
residency went on, I quickly realized that first, the water was at most
800-1000 years old, and to find that specific type of water I would have to drill
into the glacier. Secondly, my experience in Iceland drastically shaped my relationship
with this larger that life entities, thus the project evolved into a deeper
reflection of our relationship with nature, and how we consume it.
The artwork consists of a large high-definition screen “floating” in the middle of the space. A camera mounted on top of the screen tracks participants’ movements and gestures, and headphones provide an intimate experience with synthetise guttural sounds. By performing certain actions, participants trigger different stories, ranging from serene ice landscapes to fast-flashing imagery.
This piece invites participants to embody the
experience of being a glacier—with all its anxieties, transformations, and beauty.
This piece was the final proejct for my 2 month residency at the Sambands íslenskra myndlistarmanna SÍM
at Korpúlfsstaðir in Reykjavik, Iceland.
SÍM Residency artist-in-residence programme funded by the Nordic-Baltic Mobility Programme for Culture @nordiskkulturkontakt
Curated by: Sunna Dagsdóttir @sunnadags
Director: Martynas Petreikis @m_art_ynas