Travelling into the Deep

There is a great difference of experiencing something from the inside and the outside.

Our week with Ande gave us a peek into the a Sami perspective, - an interesting peek into his outlook on the world and his ideas of wearing many different 'hats'.

Outside:

Inside:

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Joiking apprentices

The joiking apprentices

Joik: The joik is an art form of cultural expression unique for the Sami people. Reflecting a person or place the joik attempts to transfer the essence of the subject into song without necessarily singing directly about the subject.

The teacher: Ande Sombe. traditional Sami joik artist and an associate professor at the Faculty of Law at the University of Tromsø.

The Course: One week DAV course as part of the Emerging Arctic Landscapes master course at Bergen Arkitekt Skole.

The lavo was placed on the dock at school, a place that many of us had known for several years, but not like this.
Ande began to joik. The rhythm and history transcended into our consciousness bringing forth the ability to touch a culture ingrained into the soil.
Sitting in a circle looking into the flames of the campfire we were transported to various plains in the north, non were sitting in Bergen.

There is a wolf in me

Chance for a surprise

When Andé Somby introduced himself and the program for the DAV-week on monday 7. november, he announced that for the thursday 10. november would be a surprising day.
Up until that date we had been experincing joiking, mythological stories and political progression around the fire inside the lavvu we raised outside the schools premises.
Then thursday was here, the anticipation for Andé´s suprise built up, but the mentor was nowhere insight. Did our joik-mentor become invisible? We tried to find him everywhere and asked the administration at the school if they had seen our mentor. "Is the lavvu burning? If not then you shouldn´t worry" was the response we got from the school´s office. That made us think that we had the freedom to do whatever we want in and on the lavvu. The studio used their time and space inside the lavvu in various ways. We joiked, played instruments, illustrated in and on the lavvu and most of all used the lavvu together to try out dialogs and togetherness in different ways than we are used to. All of us made different entries to communicate around the fire. One act led to another. This video is an example of one moment where everybody added element to the rhythm and sound around the fire.

The week we all became a bit more Sami...

From November 30, 2011

Consultations 30.11

I will come by the studio tomorrow to discuss your work. We have the time from 1145 to 1545. See you there!

A lesson with Ande Somby: "I'm gonna fucking be a joiker"

When I decided to be a joiker. Then I also decided I shall learn all the traditions. All the different sami joik traditions. I should be able to joik in any tradition. That sort of became my project. My thing. So I know a lot of traditional joiks.

And then. I started to. To meet new joiks. New joiks came to me. And I don't know if I compose them. Its a personal mystery for me. How these joiks come about. But I experience for example a joik, a new joik, like a bird that lands, lands on my shoulder for example. I often think in that way about ideas. An idea is a little being that lands on you. And then I use to negociate with the joik. And try the joik. Joik it a little bit. Will this fit into my moods? My voice? Will it work well with my voice? Does it have the exciting energy and so on. And if that matches. I use to record it. On my cell phone. Or a recorder.

And then. When I was visiting professor in Arizona. When you are a visiting professor somewhere. You are very much alone. Cause if you come as a visiting student. Then there will be many other visiting students. And you have somebody to hang around with. But when you are a visiting professor. Then the post professor meets you the first night. But then he has familiy and obligations and his life. So you will almost never see him again. You will see him now and then. But you are basically very much alone. And I thought there. I had so many joiks that landed. And then I found out that. Now that I am so much alone. Now is the time to. To work with the joiks. So I got some professional recording equipment. And then I found a canyon right outside of Tucson. Pima canyon. And I walked there for an hour into that canyon. And then I found a big tree. And I decided. Well. This is Andes studio. And I got gaffatape with me. And I taped the microphone to the tree. And then I had one working principle. And that was. I didnt know the poems of the joiks. I didnt think about the poems. Because I had just decided I should work with those joiks. I should have the poem to meet me there in the studio. And. The poem came to me and I recorded it. Only one piece. Then I went back to theTucson. And I did that for three weeks. So I got 21 tracks. One of these tracks is the Star Girl. I can read you the poem. It goes like this:

In a dark world

We need stars

So that people who are lost

Again can find their way home

We joik the star girl

We joik her with strength

We joik her with love

We joik her with intensity

We joik her with presence

In a grey world

We need colors

So that people can see the joy

and again can find it

We joik the star girl

We joik her with strength

We joik her with love

We joik her with passion

We joik her with presence

In a silenced world

We need a voice

So that people who have forgotten to sing

Again can find their song

We joik the star girl

We joik her with passion

We joik her with strength

We joik her with presence

Vendepunktet tonight

Watch Vendepunktet tonight at NRK - about the Alta case.

Vardø revisited

Beautiful text on Vardø, from 2006, by Norwegian writer Vetle Lid Larssen.

http://www.vetlelidlarssen.no/?page_id=45

Culture as a fluid entity

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Field of Flexibility

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Flexibility

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What is inside, what is outside, what is in between?

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All That You Can(t) Leave Behind

Today, in Vardø, there are several empty buildings. Vacant houses, old fishing factories no longer in use, abandoned sheds; spaces. An unknown amount of empty structures can be found all over town. After looking at photos from Vardø taken in April 2011, and explored the streets of Vardø, through the nauseating and sometimes confusing scope, of Google Street view, I could count roughly 65 empty buildings, maybe more.

Compared to the size of the population (2.100), the vacant structures are quite numerous. Their presence has become a constant reminder of the hardships Vardø has suffered, and the massive depopulation, cutting the inhabitant count in half. In Vardø, it’s common say, that half the houses are empty. Today, enthusiasts have begun the project of restoring some of the old houses. They are prominent - almost dominating - in the townscape. The population is still shrinking.

I see many different perspectives and aspects in approaching these empty spaces. What function did they serve in the past, what role do they have to day, and what part may they come to play in the future? Should they be preserved, teared down og transformed? Will Vardø ever again grow and attract new populations? If so, should the buildings be restored in order to accomodate these newcomers? Who do the buildings belong to - who stands to answer these questions?

What is a built structure when it is no longer in use. How do you move in an empty house. How do you move in empty street or in an empty town or inbetween many empty houses. What are these empty spaces in Vardø. To what limits can we expore the potential of empty homes, spaces, and structures?

Flexibility: Operational theory

Flexibility operational theory

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Новое Плато- Flexibility and wasteland

From November 22, 2011

#5 Reorientations

Lecture Summary #5 Reorientations

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Flexibility in Contradictory landscape

Sequence of investigations to see, find and understand

flexibility in the Contradictory landscape in Nikel, and how

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By looking closer into every landscape I make an attempt to

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understand the landscapes character, find enough information

to see and identify spaces in the landscapes to keep

them alive.

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review #4 - Flexibility

Dear students. We will start the review of the assignment #4 - Flexibility tomorrow at 1300. Gisle and I will attend. Please post your assignments on the blog before we start the review.

Flexibility: The long winter

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