"Does God know?, 'Snakker du norsk?'"
Sound installation with drawing on papers, 2018

“Snakker du norsk?” – Repetitive automated voice by translate program. 

The work is meant to convey the monolithic questions that foreigners, who are subjected to while settling in a new country. The voice is automated and robotic to symbolize the impersonal nature of the question. It does not delve into the personality of the person being asked, nor does it lend itself to discover anything of his or her moral character. The question can therefore easily be interpreted as the questioner to try to find out the practical utility of the person being asked. This is especially true when it is the first question being asked in conversation. 

 However, this is not the only perspective that should be performed. We have to keep in mind that the question comes from a desire for communication which again stems from a wish to interact and is therefore at it’s core something positive. But being constantly asked, weather you speak the language or not, can over time be draining and serve as a reminder of our own short comings and instill a feeling of not living up to our community’s expectations, without these expectations ever being overtly stated. 

“The doors”  – Watercolor on paper

The work is in line with another piece “Snakker du norsk?”. But also, it stands for independent piece itself. 

The work is meant to be a reminder of the constant flux and decision we’re subjected to in our daily lives. We’re in constant transition, and rarely have the information to make full formed decisions about our future. As such, we can never know what’s on the other side of the door. Which door should we choose?  

 The drawings of doors are meant to symbolize distance from us to things we are facing in our lives. It is uncertainty and at the same time, a ‘comment’ upon a common condition, a lot of stuffs from our lives: We have a lot of choices, a lot of information, and we’re expected to do something more than ever to make informed and rational decision. About our relationship with others, future, families, finances, and what so ever. The reality is however, that many of us has never felt more uncertainty, bewildered, and anxious. Then we are creating a door have distance, to protect ourselves from others and to separate you and me.