THE STAGE
Conditional performance scores in the Open
@Ålvik, Norway
Scenic viewpoint overlooking the Hardanger Fjord *
* with a busy parking lot situated behind, casting its floodlights onto the snowy field.
Darkness
The winter of 2024 brought me to the village of Ålvik located at the bay of the northern shore of the Hardangerfjord in Norway. I was resident in the Arthouse Messen, a spacious art center for Norwegian and international artists of all disciplines.
My plan was to spend part of winter in the north and observe, experience and capture the shift of light: The sudden change of the landscape and reflected light after snowfall. Or the gradual change into darkness and shortening of daylight hours. Light and its natural rhythmic patterns and oscillations is one of my key interest. Within that spectrum, the exploration of darkness is a current thread. This is in parts a reaction to the artificial light pollution in urban environments. I live in the Randstad in NL, one of the largest metropolitan regions in Europe ad there is no way to escape night time light pollution anywhere. It is also a reaction to the current derailing of seasonal patterns at large.
I am used to working with and controlling artificial light and dataflows in the black boxes of theaters. Here in the open and wide landscape I sought “a slow research period” and time for observation. I wanted to letting go of control and learn how to take natural light into account to create shifting environmental conditions for performative action.
Into the White
Upon arrival in Ålvik I encountered a landscape covered in thick white snow under a blue sky. According to the locals, this level of snowfall had not been recorded in the last 10 years. The temperature dropped to -20 C and even lower, and the snow lingered, even at the bay of the fjord. This felt more like a journey into the white than into darkness.
At the most scenic spot, right in front of the bay overlooking the Hardangerfjord, the local industry in the village had built a large and heavily used parking lot. At nightfall, its recently upgraded car park lighting flooded the entire area with cool white light.
At night, these floodlights illuminated the white snow, creating a high contrast against the black sky. It provided a perfect stage in the Open.
In order to capture the entire spectrum of activities at this spot over 20 days, I mounted a small camera at a fixed spot and left it largely unattended, experimenting with time-lapse settings. I observed weather conditions and related actions, learning to better predict the outcome, but to actually intervene only sparingly.
Blending of natural and artificial light.
View onto the parking lot and bay area behind.
I made use of various tools to measure and visualize weather data, with a focus on solar and illuminance data. It’s the first instance in which I utilized data loggers for prolonged measurements of daylight conditions, allowing me to experiment with basic data visualization for daylong measurements.
I also set-up a weather station at the location and routed the data in real-time through external servers into the visual software program Max/MSP. The outcome of these tests enabled me to better predict light conditions for the subsequent days.
Overall I gained a better understanding of synthesizing observations, leading to a more accurate prediction of the weather conditions essential for this project.
Necessary conditions – a combination of environmental forces, the dominance of industrialization, and the absence of daylight
- Snow. A thick, white and reflective surface that provides contrast against the black night sky. At this particular location this is rather a rare condition as the gulf stream brings warm water into the fjord affecting micro-climate and tempers the winter weather.
- Artificial (flood)lighting at night. The foundations for Ålvik as an industrial district and company town were laid the early 1900s, when waterfalls where exploited for hydroelectric energy. As of today the village’s infrastructure is partly owned by the local industry. This holds true also for the parking lot and the decision to install industrial, bright floodlights that hinder the view of the dark sky.
- Dawn, dust and nighttime. the moment when artificial light and daylight mingle and when the day turn to night. At this northern location, closer to the pole, twilight is long and the blue color spectrum of the sky more intensive.
Performance score:
- Observe, measure and predict the above conditions. Find the right moment to act.
- Mount the camera at a fixed position directed towards the fjord. Make sure its viewpoint is at approximately 1 meter, well below eye level.
- Let the camera run till the battery is depleted or malfunctions.
- Take the patience to observe what is happening. Intervene subtly only if necessary.
This work was produced with the financial assistance of the European Union. The views expressed herein can in no way be taken to reflect the official opinion of the European Union.