Designing Culture

Work work

2009-05-27T14:38:00.001+02:00

Some dance while others work...

Ke' det går i?

2009-05-23T15:10:00.000+02:00

We went to an exhibition at Askøy last thursday and as we where enjoying the beautifull little harbour of Strusshamn we were approched by a journalist from the local newspaper Askøyværingen and asked if we wanted to be in their page 2 column "Ke' det går i?" ("Whassup?"). According to locals we are now 1/3 of the way to super-celeb status at Askøy ;)

Buying chocolate scorpions and Bastet statues

2009-05-01T15:48:00.004+02:00

We are almost in production. Atm I am buying chocolate covered scorpions, a statue of Bastet, the egyptian cat godess and just recieved a package of chocolate linguine in the mail last week... Fun times :)

In addition I am making an overview of the media we need and of the work we need to do...

Major areas to take time to think about: The middle division, the screens shielding the exhibition, light fittings, how to send in the eating pictures... :)

Sad old man

2009-04-16T11:04:00.003+02:00

I find it sad that a man like Steinar Lem who has spent his life working for important issues like the enviroment and against poverty, now spends his last breath on the propaganda of fear. He claims Norwegian culture is being destroyed by muslims. In Dagbladet today he says that we will get a society built on scriptures from year 600. As opposed to now? When was it they wrote the Bible again?

Fortunately the kids are still sensible. In the same paper they respond that they cannot take over a country that is already theirs, and wonders what Norwegian culture really is and what it is Lem thinks will be destroyed.

- Dette er det dummeste jeg har hørt. Hvordan kan vi ta over vårt eget land? Vi er også født og oppvokst her, sier Somaya Choukri (16).

- Jeg er født her og oppvokst her, men det betyr ikke at den norske kulturen vil bli utryddet, sier Boulahloud, som også er muslimsk.
Vanessa Shaqiri (14) lurer på hva norsk kultur egentlig er og hva Steinar Lem mener blir ødelagt.

Kulturnytt

2009-04-15T12:06:00.002+02:00

A nice presentation of Fiskeboller i karri on NRK Kulturnytt this morning! I talked to a very nice young lady, Rebecca Strand, just before easter and it was aired this morning. To hear it, try to access the incredibly difficult NRK nettradio, make a search for 'kulturnytt' and choose the date 15.04 2009. I can't promise the nettradio works, but it's worth a try.

Getting there

2009-04-07T17:53:00.001+02:00

Office...?!

2009-04-06T13:34:00.001+02:00

Believe it or not; i have my own office!

Si ;D - we are all immigrants!

2009-03-30T11:49:00.002+02:00

Nice text in Aftenposten's page for young people's opinion 'Si ;D', last saturday. Written by Johanna B, 15 years old.

Kill your dahlings...

2009-03-24T12:33:00.004+01:00

I just re-read an old blog-post with advice from Havlandet. it said:

Kill your darlings, before they kill you.

It fits with todays decision of ditching one of the first exhibition ideas that came up. I think that the original idea of "This is your connection to the world" - is good, but as it had been worked into deal with everyday food instead, it didn't quite sit anymore. And it certainly didn't justify the amount of money we were going to have to spend on it. That is now freed up to spend on other things that would be nice, like projections of footsteps walking around the exhibition space and shadows moving across the walls. Perhaps.

Frode ftw

2009-03-12T19:37:00.004+01:00

Frode Ljøkjell (link in Norwegian only, sorry) has started working with us as a 3D designer to work out details and volumes. We have had several meetings and it seems to me that this will work out well. Here is one of his first sketches.Frode's responsibilities will be to shape and construct the various parts of the physical structures.

Pensive need

2009-03-09T14:41:00.003+01:00

I am in a pensive mood, tired of colours and forms, and especially tired of creating someting that so many will have an opinion of, so publicly. I have dedicated the day to start preparing for my application for final appraisal and sort through the stuff I'm going to write when autumn sets in.

MGP

2009-03-06T12:46:00.005+01:00

I was watching MGP last weekend(?). MGP? The Eurovision Songcontest (Norwegian part)! They said the show was the best in 10-15 years. I certainly enjoyed it :) and I haven't watched for... maybe that long, maybe longer :)

In the beginning of the show one of the presenters said;

...og dokker trur sikkert at det bli litt sånn kniving når en reise rundt med MGP, men sånn e det ikke! Vi e verdens beste venna!"

("You probably think there is rivalry (between the artists) while travelling around with this kind of show. That's not how it is! We are the worlds best friends!") Then all the artists had to say something nice about the artist that was about to sing. Maybe that atmosphere of friendship is part of what made the show so good? Research has now shown that schools that work against harassment (mobbing) have better academic results. Ofc for a lot of us this is not news. Others need research to prove it. :)

Entrance III

2009-02-24T17:45:00.001+01:00

Some sketches for the entrance alternating dark and light.

Food presentation - entrance

2009-02-24T17:19:00.004+01:00

Food is nearly always presented on a white background. I guess it looks clean and delicate. Letting the colours of the food come out clearly. But the question is; do we follow the norm or counter it? A dark background can also be quite alluring and might be more exciting, giving the food more of a... seductive quality?

Entrance 2

2009-02-23T13:37:00.002+01:00

Still pondering the entrance... It has two parts, should be something you walk through, should partly obstruct your view to the rest of the exhibition and should look fabulous! "With windows, you just have a few seconds to get someone's attention" said Paul Smith about window displays. It is the same with the entrance, a few seconds to dazzle and draw. So... How to dazzle and draw? Ppl are drawn to lights, to colours, movement and to visual humor. One thing ppl find amusing is objects that are out of scale, either super large or miniatures. There's the recipe! Simple. ^^

The entrance

2009-02-19T17:10:00.002+01:00

I usually base my design ideas on images surfacing in my mind as I consider a topic. It is very intuitive. In my experience ideas that don't come as finished images often lack pizass. Atm I am labouring hard with the entrance. No immediate images present themselves. However, several ideas are peering out reluctantly, maybe this is the time when I will find the solution through hard work rather than through my inspirational muse...

Medvandrere

2009-02-12T12:18:00.003+01:00

In Aftenposten saturday I read a about Safia Y. Abdi. She came to Norway from Somalia in 1992 with her three daughters. She is an amazing resource and she reminds us that we are a globe of migrators and says we should call each other co-migrators. She says that she herself has finished migrating and is as such no longer an immigrant.

Look here for a clip from norwegian NRK.

Kids talk

2009-02-11T13:44:00.006+01:00

Yesterday we spent an hour with a group of kids at a school in Bergen.

They were self confident and outspoken, not afraid to ask questions and give their opinions. A lively, positive bunch.

So, what exactly did we learn?

We learnt that we are on the right level with the stories that we are telling. Both the kind of stories and the way we are telling them. They easily grasped the concept that "norwegian" is a relative concept, and enjoyed the background information we provided.

They had very different opinions on the visuals we presented, which was also interesting. Hiphop style is not everybody's cup of tea (even if I like Banksy... *sigh*)

We also learnt that we have to be very concrete when talking to a target group, discussing exhibition ideas did not work as well as discussing the actual visuals.

westwards brave soldiers!

2009-02-03T17:03:00.005+01:00

ready to go home after another day at the office. my faithful furry fury dragon is also ready after a fitful sleep, so we mosey westwards in the cold dusk. life aint too bad...

o_O

2009-01-26T12:21:00.014+01:00

Friday afternoon I spent a couple of hours feeling like the proverbial deer.

I then spent the weekend curled up in a safe place (licking my wounds?)

Now emerging, still chafed, always stronger, making the world mine again.

Supernordmenn!

2009-01-22T11:41:00.008+01:00

Finn-Erik Vinje, mighty language fighter, always on the barricades for correct use of language has criticized the Norwegian Princess Märtha Louise and her husband for the names they have chosen to give their children. Be that as it may.

What interested me in the article was the new definition this paramount of correct language has introduced into the debate. He defines the semi-royal family as "supernordmenn"! As if we didnt have enough with "norsk" "første generasjons nordmann", "andre generasjons innvandrer", "etnisk norsk" and when to become so.

Can we start making a list?

First generation immigrant
Second generation immigrant
First generation nordmann
Second generation nordmann
Nordmann
Supernordmann?

Oh wait! This reminds me of a list I saw in a museum in Mexico last year. It's a list of the casts in Mexican society after the Spanish. Sorry for the poor quality of the picture.

Another day another Cortado...

2009-01-16T15:09:00.001+01:00

With the laptop surviving the last caffein shock I take my chances, order another and finish a short presentation for Hordaland Fylkeskommune. May they believe in the project and give us Nkr 100 000,-.

Pouring coffee in the laptop

2009-01-14T15:05:00.004+01:00

...yet another reason to drink cortado instead of latte... -_-

The white sheet

2009-01-12T12:48:00.003+01:00

I am preparing a presentation for both my supervisors. Not only a presentation but also an overview of what we have, both consept and visuals. The coming week I will be discussing the project with several colleagues of different professions. First out is Linda Kragseth, marked communicator who was intensly part of the project last year, and who still is lurking at the edges. Tomorrow I am meeting with Anne Mette Prestegård, who is also an exhibition designer and who I have worked with on Havlandet. Then later in the week I hope to have some time with Hilde Hauan Johnsen who is a professor of textiles at KhiB, she has worked on several exhibitions at Tromsø Museum.

So I am working on the presentation... and have so much of the project inside. It feels like I am on the verge of bursting, but I am struggeling with finding the right format for the output.

Hence the white sheet. The fear. And now I will get to work filling it.

the big idea...

2008-12-16T17:49:00.000+01:00

...trying to unscramble the big idea and the key communication points with Nina at Kafé Kaos. A fitting location for our present state? Not really. We feel we have it all and know what it is, but we are trying to get our heads around the categories, and around what is what.

after some struggles we also start wondering wether finding "the big idea- sentence" to guide all further development is the only right way of developing exhibitions... We wonder partly because we feel that even if we do lack the sentence we can't see how finding it is going to change the manuscript and the way we are working with it.

Building

2008-11-13T17:39:00.005+01:00

Trying out some ideas in cardboard...

Three focus areas II

2008-09-19T13:32:00.007+02:00

Three pods with distinctly different atmospheres.

Tomatoes - visual, tactile

Cardamom - aroma, mechanical theatre

Chocolate - taste, aroma "magic interface" "new media"

With this audience we need to be very direct. But how? Open questions that are not moralistic. But we shouldnt be afraid of having a moral.

Kulturminneåret 2009 - Part II

2008-06-12T11:33:00.014+02:00

Fiskeboller i karri is now officially a part of Kulturminneåret 2009, The Norwegian Year of Cultural Heritage 2009!

Today I had a very engaging conversation with Sidsel Hindal, the project manager, where she suggested a variety of ways the project can tie in to other projects that is in the making. It seems other people are inspired by the idea; maybe we can make it a National network?

We have also received 25 000,- nkr from Bergen Kommune (Thank you, BK!)

Museumssenteret i Salhus

2008-05-20T14:53:00.003+02:00

The museum centre in Salhus is a gem of a museum! Situated in an old textile factory it has beautiful locations and interesting permanent collections that are well presented. In the glass on the photo you can see the reflections of the windows overlooking the harbour. When in Bergen take the trip!

Mexican Pretzel

2008-05-20T11:02:00.007+02:00

In the series of mixed food; I came across this Mexican Pretzel on the trainstation in Leicester...

.

Three focus areas

2008-05-19T15:16:00.003+02:00

Potatoes (or should it be tomatoes? Annechen said the use of tomato in Norwegian cuisine has exploded...)
Spices (only one spice? like cinnamon?)
Chocolate!!! (ofc!) (Milkchocolate - a small piece of Norway...(?))

Webinar

2008-05-13T22:38:00.003+02:00

I just ended the last of four webinars based on the book "Digital Museum - transforming the future now."

I wanted to join the webinar also because I was interested in the format. And I must say it was quite a pleaseant way of being at a seminar, while still enjoying the comforts of my best chair ;-)

A lecture these days is normally a PowerPoint presentation and a voice, and so this was not so different. I guess the major difference was the lack of smalltalk in the coffee-break... networking not being so obvious... but still happening through the chat window. :-)
And my questions were answered :-)

It was also quite nice to get an extended overview over what is happening, particularly on social networking sites and how some museums are using them. For some art museums the use and also the benefits are obvious, but for history and cultural museums there are also ways. Maybe ways that are even more interesting - like this example from Museum of London's "London's Voices" exhibition.

Going into production!

2008-05-13T11:54:00.005+02:00

The time has come to move the project into production. We will start the development of the "smell/picture" and the "how are you connected to the world" installations. The timeframe we have - with opening in march next year - forces us to focus. Which is a good thing.

For a while now I have felt as if the installation needed more ideas... but it was allways intended to be a small installation in order to have time and means to work out the details. A small gem.

So I have decided to start the production by contacting the following for consultations:

BEK - Bergen center for Electronic Art - for the interactive elements of the installations. Because they are the most experienced on interactivity in a 3d space.

Tveit&Tornøe - For ideas on the physical structures of the installation. Because they are energetic, creative and available. They are here in the same workspace that I am at KhiB, which makes contacting them low-threshold.

For the development of the script I have already spoken to Nina Svane-Mikkelsen who also wrote the script for Havlandet. Because she is the only one (in Bergen at least) who actually understands writing scripts for exhibitions. And her own PhD is focusing on exhibitions and new media.

Kulturminneåret 2009

2008-05-08T13:00:00.000+02:00

Next year is the The Norwegian Year of Cultural Heritage 2009, and they are focusing on cultural heritage in Everyday life, and writes that

One approach involves highlighting the development of cultural heritage in Norway.

Sounds like Fiskeboller should be part of that?! :-)

Prøvekluten

2008-05-03T18:08:00.004+02:00

Prøvekluten at Høgskolen i Volda has accepted Fiskeboller as one of their projects this year :-) We are invited to spend time in Volda in June this year.

Hordaland fylkeskommune did not find it in their hearts (or budget) to give us the 50 000,- we applied for... not surprising; there are many projects applying and little money to be handed out :-)

Konseptutvikling

2008-04-08T13:50:00.003+02:00

Brainstorming med Joanne; min og din utstilling på lørdag. Joanne veldig konkret i utformingen av utstillingen, har tanker om bygging av rom, bygger rommene før vi har innholdet. Plutselig blir jeg den akademisk konservative, brainstormingen fungerer fint og vi får definert en hel del ting i forhold til farger og det grafiske. Tre nyanser av beige over til gull. Tre nyanser av grønt. Svart/hvitt. Mønstre – blomster. Lag og gjennomskinnelighet.
Men blir det for vakkert? Målgruppe. God design er ikke nødvendigvis riktig design.

Vi lager rammer før vi har bildene. Det er greit å jobbe med design konseptet, de grafiske snittet, utforske et visuelt språk. Men vi må ha innhold før vi kan lage en en installasjon. Brainstormingen gjorde at det ble klart, så det er et positivt utslag.

Trenger vi en tekstforfatter nå? En som kan jobbe aktivt videre med tematisk konsept... hvem skal gjøre det i så fall?

Etter å ha lest Joanne Jones-Rizzi, Contextualizing Culture i Exhibitionist vol.27:

Unger trenger å starte med seg selv, å ha en følelse av hvem de er etnisk, nasjonalt, kulturelt.
Phyllis A. Katz: når og hvordan utvikler barn holdninger til etnisitet, rase og kultur?

Why is cultural understanding so important?
We want to foster kids cultural curiosity. We want all children to feel valued.

Plakat i museet:
”Help us with a new multicultural exhibit”
”What do you want to know about people who look different from you?” ”What do you want others to know about you?”

Vårt konsept (litt utvidet)
• Alle har mange identiteter (Hva er din forbindelse til verden?)
• Forskjellighet innen én gruppe (”Norsk er ikke én ting”)
• Kultur forandres hele tiden (Lukten av Norge)

Hvorfor er kulturell forståelse viktig?
Vi ønsker å stimulere barns kulturelle nysgjerrighet. Vi vil at alle barn skal føle seg verdsatt og del av et eller flere felleskap.

And more generic play

2008-04-03T17:35:00.003+02:00

Trying the blogging feature on my new phone + the new photoDJ...

Idées Vagues

2008-03-29T14:08:00.002+01:00

Easter is over, extremely early this year. It has eaten quite a chunk of March so the month has been entirely occupied with applications for funding (to Hordaland Fylkeskommune, Prøvekluten and Stipendiatprogrammet) and presentations. The presentation at the Stipendiatsamling went well, although I messed up a bit in the end... I guess that is where my thoughts are the most fuddled too so it actually made that fact very clear to me.

When it comes to the funding bit; yesterday I was informed that we have received 200 000,- NOK from Stipendiatprogrammet! With the 75 000,- NOK from Kunsthøgskolen i Bergen it is starting to look like proper funding ;-D

I also got an e-mail from Amanda Steggel about the aroma installation and we have had an e-mail exchange about possibilities and restrictions. Very nice.

On the coming Monday I am doing the "key note" for museum educators in Hordaland. Trying both to say something in general about what exhibitions could be and present the project. It is a heavy job to do the writing, mostly because it seems there is so much I want to say! There are so many themes I would like to explore, but it is so boring to try to write out the whole argument. I must find a way to relax with the writing...

new computer :-D

2008-03-12T20:16:00.002+01:00

Finally! The new computer is in da house!
Here is a portrait it has taken of itself; I am still playing with Photobooth...

Stipendiatsamling

2008-03-11T13:19:00.002+01:00

We are at the twice annual gathering of the research fellows. I held my presentation yesterday, Transformation, and it went quite well. People seemed to enjoy the thoughts behind Fiskeboller. Will post those images friday.

I am playing with Photobooth.

Interviews and organic design development

2008-02-29T17:43:00.006+01:00

According to my project plan I was supposed to do interviews with museum professionals in March. However, due to easter being early this year and a couple of presentations in March I will move the interviews to end of April/May.

I am a little confused on how to continue the development of the design of Fiskeboller. It seems as if the design is just growing inside of me... Erlend Loe said in an interview with "Interiør" (1-2008) that the best ideas are the ones that stay with you, they go through a kind of destillation process and only parts remain. Often an idea is only good once you combine it with something else that has been around for a while.

Thats the way it feels with the exhibition ideas atm. They seem to be merging and shaping inside my head, without much of a visible output. At some stage they will be put on paper, and then into space.

The confusion I feel is because I am uncertain wether this organic way of working with the design ideas is ok, or if I should be more structured and exploring.

The smallest acceptable solution

2008-02-25T14:54:00.007+01:00

In the smallest acceptable solution there will be aroma and projected images/text and a web solution.

In the (highly unlikly) case that the only funds we have for Fiskeboller i karri are private and from Kunsthøgskolen.

Producers

2008-02-24T15:13:00.003+01:00

Through Amanda Steggell's website I found the name of the aroma designers she used for her Emotion Organ. Dale Air Aroma Design makes aromas for museums and shopping experiences. And it doesnt look that expensive either. :-)

Anne Mette Prestegård tipped me (even if she didint know) about using BEK for technical solutions on multimedia.

Both Trond Lossius at BEK and Amanda Steggell has completed their research fellowships in the same programme as me. It all stays in the family!

Design Methods

2008-02-22T18:37:00.004+01:00

When I first started in 2003 there was very little inormation out there on the www. Last week I checked again. Lo and behold! Here is a nice article on Design Methods from Wikipedia. It says among other things that

Design Methods is (sic.) challenging to implement since there are not enough
agreed-upon tools, techniques and language for consistent knowledge
transfer.

Rita Marhaug said in a discussion once that

artists are not very true to method.

The purpose of design is to make something that doesnt already exist. Maybe you can not follow a recipie if you are to create something new? Just a thought.

Norwegian Traditions

2008-02-22T16:29:00.003+01:00

Kaffistova promotes Norwegian food traditions. Warm ricepudding with raisins, sugar and cinnamon. "Risengrynsgrøt" was dreaded by purists when it first started getting popular around 1800. They were afraid it would take over for the true Norwegian rømmegrøt (porridge of sourcream)...

What has happened the last week

2008-02-20T18:10:00.000+01:00

We have set up a list of potential sponsors and possible partners for "Fiskeboller i karri" and are researching our options. I met with Vigleik Røkke Mathisen from Museum Vest and he was very enthusiastic, both about the theme and about the idea of touring schools. If we team up with them, they could probably contribute personell, like educators and builders. Geir Sebjørnsen works at Museum Vest as a designer/carpenter and he is amazing on design details.

I have been asked to submit a proper budget to the programme comitee. This has made me think closely about worst case scenarios. The smallest amount of money we can raise is Nkr 125 000,-. If that is to be the case what is the most important thing to spend money on? It must be smell. Smell is the single most important sense in this project. Hopefully we manage to raise more funds!

What used to be

2008-02-19T15:42:00.000+01:00

Thinking about origins of things and the paths they have travelled and are travelling. How did they protect their boats before there where exessive amounts of used car tyres?

new moodboards

2008-02-18T14:08:00.003+01:00

...it seems that I keep turning out moodboards for this project...

Containers...

2008-02-07T10:47:00.001+01:00

Back from an extended christmas holiday. Have been approved for "readmittance" to the fellowship programme!

However, after looking again at some of MMW's container projects, I got inspired to look into containers again for FiK... Apparently it is possible to buy used 20' containers for approx. 15 000,-. So I did some drawings and some thinking. Considering the problems of wheelchair access I started thinking about other types of disabilities. The combination of small and sound (and taste) makes the exhibition an interesting experience also for people with a visual impairment. And the combination of smell and images (and again taste) makes it interesting for people with an hearing impairment.

I would want it to be a seating area and thought about doing it with an organic shape and some soft surface, but that requires people to take off their shoes, and that again creates a whole set of problems relating to logistics, entrance threshold (mental ones :-)) etc. So maybe we just keep the organic shape, but make the seating of a hard, shoe friendly material.

Atm I am thinking of a sound, images, smell show that could take something like 10 - 15 minutes (or run continuosly when viewed in public) with visitor interaction deciding what section comes next. ("Is this the smell of Norway? Lean to your right if you say yes. Lean to your right if you say no. Why/not?") In this case the main development would be with the AV(S)-program and the interactive programming. As well as developing stable technical solutions.

Christmas

2007-12-12T10:17:00.000+01:00

The project description is coming along now. Almost there! I have had some good advice from my supervisor Prof. Lohman these last days. Sending him texts in the afternoon and phoning him the morning after. Two days ago he said; I suggest you restructure your chapters into four sections! Once again the text was chopped up, shaken, stired and this time placed on the wall (together with the christmas decorations, accompanied by Elvis singing christmas carols^^). Et voilá! Brand new project description!

bringing It feels good working with the text physically, actuallyout a pair of scissors and hearing the sound ofthe paper being cut. Fortunato: Since the Mac is still not healthy I do not have a project planner software to make my detailed project plan for next year. So I will have to draw one by hand! Revolutionary, I know! Wish me luck!

Abstractions of Designing Culture

2007-12-04T10:47:00.001+01:00

My dear sweet Mac has started trying to help me out by simplifying my thoughts, my visuals... heck, everything I do! These are some of his recent works... Quite beautiful! But kinda hard to work with... So its off to major surgery and rehab for the little one, while I try to work out how to get the project description done in time without the proper software... Fortunately we are a two computer family, I guess I can persuade the PC to actually do some work and not just hang out being cool and play WoW like he usually does. Just need to get a copy of Word, maybe they have a loaning version at school? Stay tuned for the developments in this exiting thriller!

(oh and dont click on the pictures to see better; I dont have the software to make them screen sized ^^. Allthough if you do click them you will see some of the rather beautiful nuances of the colors in the stripes :-))

Spread Sheets

2007-11-30T15:53:00.000+01:00

Working on the revised project description these weeks! Had a very good meeting with headmaster at KHiB, Nina Malterud. She pointed out a series of subjects that I still need to explore and explain in the text that I will hand in by December 21. The session was short, but exellent! While she was pointing out what was lacking I was thinking "Yes! Ofc! There it is!" Her comments made several topics fall into place for me ^^.

Now I have chopped the text into pieces (as I was adviced to do by Prof. Bryan Lawson when attending one of his courses some years ago), shaken the mix and like a phoenix the improved project description will rise from the ashes of the old!

Friedman on sharing ideas

2007-11-23T14:24:00.000+01:00

I was just sent this clip from a friend. It's a little story about Milton Friedman's thoughts on plagarizing, or actually on idea sharing. Let it be an inspiration for all of us!

The story starts at 00:50 and ends at approx. 01:30
Milton Friedman on Plagarizing Ideas

My sympathies

2007-11-23T14:00:00.001+01:00

I don't read Garfield anymore... I used to. When I was 11 "Pusur"(Norwegian name) was the coolest cat around...

But, as one of the
1. first research fellows in a
2. freshly started programme for research and development, in a
3. field that does not have a long and solid history in research,
I sympathise with Jon in this strip.
Although, fortunately, I am not that desperate atm ;-) (it might come back later I suppose... :-p)

Great meeting @ SIFO

2007-11-22T13:33:00.000+01:00

On wednesday morning we had a great meeting with Annechen Bahr Bugge and Runar Døving at SIFO! The meeting was most inspiring and the two of them had lots of ideas as to what themes would be relevant for us. Now ofc we need to sit down and sort out what is relevant to our project. On tuesday afternoon I suddenly had three/four ideas of how this can be visualised.
So stay tuned! We will be right back after this...

Brainwork

2007-11-20T13:41:00.000+01:00

I was going to write the new enhanced brief on friday, had told Jack I would send it to him at the end of the week... Just couldn't do it... postponed all day untill it was to late... then in the weekend I pretended to forget about it... did some work for my company (bills etc), some housework and generally had the time of... come monday morning and I wake up thinking: "...this goes before that... that sentence gets cut... I need to write about these things...". The structure was set in my mind, and I sat down at the computer and spent 3 hours writing it all smoothly! Good brain. Working when I am not ;-)

Fiskeboller at the railwaystation?

2007-11-13T13:05:00.000+01:00

Some conceptual sketches of an installation at the railwaystation in Bergen... Could this be a location for Fiskeboller i karri?

un/finished thoughts on design and art / research and development

2007-11-12T14:55:00.000+01:00

After SK4 - as a part of a programme that doesn't mention design in its title - on a school that doesn't mention design in its name.

The three settings above all equals art with design. Or rather: When talking about art(istic research) they often add "...and I also talk about design (research) ofc!" But is it enough? I am starting to feel that there are some serious differences between art and design that are not visible when design is added as an afterthought.

This difference becomes increasingly apparent when talking about research and development. SK4, Stipendiatprogrammet and Kunsthøgskolen are all involved in the quest to define and discuss artistic research. The two last are also producing it.

In these fora we continuously discuss what makes an art project a research project. At SK4 we even got the honest response that it was research because it was partly funded by a research grant. In addition we discuss when something is art... (or artistic enough). Linda Worbin got the comment that her research was (quite correctly) not artistic research, but rather (quite uncorrectly) engineering research.

Like Janneke Wesseling commented on the last day of the conference: we need to start making distinctions.

Art and design, research and development are distinctly different entities. (I will not go into a full discussion about the difference between art and design. Suffice to quote Michael Brady, at the University of North Carolina, when he writes "The differences between art and design lie not so much in how they look as in what they do: They have different purposes, they are made differently, they are judged by different criteria, and they have different audiences.")

Here is my attempt to make some clearifications on research and development.
There is art. There is design. There is research. There is development.
The two first can be combined with the two last into four different kinds of projects:
Artistic research. Artistic development. Design research. Design development.

Artistic development and design development projects are are similar in the sense that they are practical projects resulting in an artwork/design product. In addition the artist/designer conducting the work is concerned with something more than the project's end result in itself and is able to communicate their findings and reflections to a larger/relevant audience. (My own project is a design development project where I, through the design of two exhibitions explore the question "What is the role of the exhibition designer in the development of historic exhibitions?". My findings will be communicated to a relevant audience through my website, through lectures and discussions and finally through a publication.)

Design research will have a defined problem to solve. This is often based on material, form, function, process or.. (what else?). Linda Worbin's work is an example of a design research project where she explores the possibilities of a material for future designs. (Other examples could be the work conducted at The Sustainable Design Research Centre in London or at the Centre for Design Research at Northumbria University.)

I am at a loss as to come up with definitions and examples of artistic research. Maybe it doesn't exist? (Or is Åsa Sonjasdotter's project, Potato Perspective, an artistic research project? Her project could only be undertaken by an artist. A journalist could have done the same investigative work, but could not have communicated it to an audience in the same way. She is conveying information about a larger topic, the history of the potato, about EU regulations and about the lifes of ordinary people. Or is this particular project turning into potato activism? (The project is not less valid if that is what we decide to label it. Its a beautiful project no matter what!))

All research and development projects need to have a research question and need to communicate the answer/s to the research questions to an audience.

Please help me thinking about these topics by leaving your comment! ^^

Museum of immigration opened in Paris...

2007-11-12T13:42:00.000+01:00

"Fiskeboller i karri" places itself in the context of museums and exhibitions looking at immigration as positive influence in a society. Interkulturelt Museum in Oslo has just gotten a sister in Paris, Cité nationale de l’histoire de l’immigration.

The opening has been low key, mirroring the problematic topic in french society. From 60° 24' N 5° 19' E we salute the project and all other projects aimed at making our world a friendlier one!

"Le Monde yesterday praised the museum and beseeched France to acknowledge the role of immigration in its history. "This museum bears witness that 'French identity' exists, but it has always been mixed," the paper said.

Hélène Lafont-Couturier, the museum's director, told the Guardian she hoped the museum would allow the nation to face "an important part of its history which it has preferred to hide from"." (posted at WorldHum.com by Eva Holland)

About the museum of immigration in NY Times.

Plan for week 46

2007-11-12T12:57:00.000+01:00

Every week

Keep the blog updated

Work

Visual develoment of Fiskeboller

Working on the brief

Summing up Week 40
Last week was mostly dedicated to the Sensuous Knowledge conference.

Sensuous Knowledge 4.1

2007-11-08T17:06:00.000+01:00

Comments from SK4:

I think that one of the differences between artistic practice and artistic research is that in artistic research must have something that is relevant to other people and that you have to communicate this.

From John Hyatt's talk:

If you ar going to design a car, study how they have designed cars previously, then go into your studio and forget all about it. All the knowledge will still be there and will come through no matter what. Everything you ever learnt is in there, you just have to open yourself to it.

Art and science were once the same line of inquiry.

First you have a question, you do the research; find out as much as you possibly can about the topic. You then spin it into the creative practice and hopefully something innovative comes out. This you again feed into the creative practice to test its viability and do more research and so on and so forth...

Scriptwriter needed!?

2007-11-07T14:36:00.000+01:00

I feel very strongly that we need a scriptwriter. Where do we find the right person? Skrivekunst akademiet? Wibecke? TV-faget? Or could the content be developed through visual development and visual use of text? And then we could get a scriptwriter to make the actual texts... if it is necessary... hmmmmm.....

moodboards

2007-11-06T15:08:00.000+01:00

I made some moodboards a couple of weeks ago. The first one i have become quite attached to. I like the layers, the patterns, the feeling of transparency and the play of the light through the material. Jo Anne will now build on these and continue the development of a visual language for Fiskeboller.

I am the boss!

2007-10-25T14:42:00.000+02:00

We have had a meeting straightening out the lines of responsibility. We were all quite frustrated and by the time we met, all feeling that the project was not moving forward and not having the time to do anything about it. It was a long time since we had met due to Linda and Joannes workloads. After a short frustrated discussion we readily agreed that I need to be the project leader and must be aloud to make descissions. The two others will still be on board, but rather on concrete tasks, not as much in the daily running of the project. Which basically means that they decide what has to be done for the next meeting and I do it. They love it.

This is the reason...

2007-10-25T14:26:00.001+02:00

This is the reason why "Fiskeboller" deals with an important subject; immediately after the first person with a background from somewhere further away than Scandinavia has been appointed Minister of equality, questions are asked about her loyalty to The Country. Her citizenship went through only two weeks before her appointment... and bright heads are questioning wether she wants to become Norwegian or to become minister...

She has lived and worked in Norway for 16 years.

When are you Norwegian enough?

Fred* located?

2007-10-16T09:48:00.001+02:00

Had a good talk with Einar Wiig (the real dean of the design department :-)) yesterday. He will read through the exhibition evaluation and comment on structure etc. In addition he gave me a tip on contacting Runar Døving. From what I can see of his works he sounds... ideal! He will be called this week!

(*Fred is the codename Lykkejegerne put on the social anthropologist that we knew we had to get into the project. Could this be him?)

Plan for week 42

2007-10-16T09:25:00.000+02:00

Every week

Keep the blog updated

Work

Evaluation of Havlandet - process.
Evaluation of Havlandet - the exhibition. Finish first draft. (monday)

Meetings and seminars

Stipendiatsamling - tuesday and wednesday
Jack - friday

Summing up Week 41

Had a good meeting with Petter, giving me good names to contact in different public institutions. He also had valuable input on the further develoment of Fiskeboller.

The workshop with Kelly Davis was quite useful, in the sense that I realized I could not use the system he was teaching, but he still mapped out some tricks and tools that are useful in storytelling (storytelling not based on a character experiencing conflict that is...)

Evaluation of Havlandet - process.

Had a very good meeting with Linda, where we really got a huge step forward with the structure and the content. Dont know how I would have done it without her!

Evaluation of Havlandet - the exhibition. Finish first draft.

First draft finished and given to Einar Wiik for a read through.

All cultures are dirty!

2007-10-08T14:52:00.000+02:00

A-magasinet, the weekend magazine of one of the biggest newspapers in Norway, last Friday had a very good article about people from Somalia, apparently many have a hard time becoming integrated in Norwegian society. I will not discuss that topic as it is a bit too large a morsel to chew atm. It was the end of the article that made me think. It said "I remembered what a 19-year old I met outside the Somali mosque in Trondheimsveien had said. He was complaining in an aggressiv tone about how the media judges all Somali, before he said: -Kurds are rapists. But not Somali."

I think we have to be very clear in the exhibition about the fact that all cultures are mixes, are dirty so to speak (as opposed to the idea of national culture as something pure and uninfluenced), not only the Norwegian one. Otherwise we could get a situation where people could say; "Haha! You don't really have a culture, it is all a mix, nothing is Norwegian! It is not clean like our culture!"

All cultures are dirty, are mixes, are moving and growing. I like the description in "Blanke løgner, skitne sannheter" by Stian Bromark and Dag Herbjørnsrud. Loosely translated they write: "In the large perspective we are all immigrants. Nations and land areas are like circular tube lines: an eternal stream of people embarking and disembarking throughout history through thousands of years."

Plan for week 41

2007-10-08T12:43:00.000+02:00

Every week

Keep the blog updated

Work

Working on the exhibition script through a storytelling workshop with Kelly Davis.

Evaluation of Havlandet - process. Send to Linda. (monday)
Evaluation of Havlandet - the exhibition. Finish first draft. (monday)

Meetings

Department of Design - Petter - monday

Summing up Week 40

Evaluation of Havlandet - process. Send to Linda.

worked on it, will send it today

Evaluation of Havlandet - the exhibition. Finish first draft.

will be finished Monday October 8th

"Review" Freedom of Speech exhibition

2007-10-04T13:45:00.000+02:00

In Klassekampen yesterday Dagfinn Nordbø writes about the new freedom of speech exhibition at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo. As it only opened last week I have not been able to see it yet, but will see it when I go to Oslo in two weeks. Nordbø is a text writer, mostly writing humorous texts for newspapers and radio. He has not set out to review the exhibition, but through his humorous comments he has made one of the better exibition reviews I have read in a Norwegian newspaper. ^^

Exhibition structure

2007-10-03T12:43:00.000+02:00

I have sketched out a structure for the exhibition, and on a meditative walk on Sunday I managed to see a solution (at this stage anyway) for the last stage of the exhibition. I had mapped out that it would be an exhibition in three stages. The introduction talking about how culture never stands still, the main area using food culture to illustrate this point and the last part???? I hadn't come up with a solution, considering whether we should do scenarios for the future, not being comfortable about that; it can often become scary or cliched and not very constructive. I was also wondering how to bring the visitors themselves into the exhibition... So on the quiet walk I realised it would be perfect to have an installation in the end where the visitors can fill in their own connections to the world and have it printed out on a beautifully designed card. They could also become part of a map on the wall showing lines and connections.

This brings the element of visitor input (taken from Havlandet and the notes) and visibility in the exhibition, brings the large topic of culture to a personal level and gives us the possibilities of giving them something personal to take away from the exhibition.

In a talk with Jo-Anne yesterday she said that we have to make sure that we stress that there is allways a core that is you, your own personality, (not "You are what you eat" or "You are who you know" those sayings have allways bothered me...) and it is this core that has connections to the world.

Plan for week 40

2007-10-01T12:59:00.000+02:00

Every week
Keep the blog updated

Work

Evaluation of Havlandet - process. Send to Linda.
Evaluation of Havlandet - the exhibition. Finish first draft.

Summing up Week 38
Good meetings with Søren and an interesting seminar, both already described in earlier blogposts.

Supervision with Søren

2007-09-28T12:32:00.000+02:00

Through gentle manipulation ;-) Søren made me decide to keep the evaluation on the process of Havlandet in the form of a bulletted list rather than in prose. The measuring and reporting fashion of the list makes it feel as if it is made by a machine analysing all the data available judging the different parts of the process against god-given questions.

The evaluation of the exhibition itself will be differeent from that with two parts; "what worked/what was good" and "what didn't work/wasn't good". With visuals ofc, and also with explanations (where relevant and possible).

What are we doing?

2007-09-27T13:27:00.000+02:00

Wednesday there was a full day seminar about research and development at KhiB (Kunsthøgskolen i Bergen). I really enjoyed the discussions, even if they were not so much about research and development as such. The seminar is one of three this autumn and is obligatory for all teaching and researching personnel at KhiB.

We were placed in groups of ten and were presented with two projects, in our case very different ones. Professor Rita Marhaug was presenting a proposal for creating a platform for cooperation in development projects. And Professor Dave Vikøren presented his work with InsideNorway, a project where he works on increasing the reputation of Norwegian furniture design.

For me it was interesting to see that I felt more connected to Rita's project than to the industry of the furniture business. I realise that exhibitions (like all other spacial design projects) are "unika design", not mass produced (Yes it is obvious, but putting this into words put some things in place for me ^^).

I was pondering what the research part was in Dave's project and what differed it from a branding project in say visual or marketing communication.

In research by design it is the finished product that is the important result, in addition there must be reflections on the process, trials and errors. As the discussion progressed it became clear that Dave's project is twofold; he does design exhibitions for very different settings to display the furnitures. But the other, and I would perhaps say more important, part of the project is to actually design a system for promoting Norwegian furnitures, and give young designers a way into the market. The design of the system is in correspondence with the notion of the designer as an expert in problem solving. An exsample of this is the School of Design at the Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. Their focus on design as a problemsolver has given them projects that is not typical for a design school. They have, among other things, re-organized the entire US Postal system and designed a new tax-system for Australia.

Plan for week 39

2007-09-24T12:00:00.000+02:00

Every week
Keep the blog updated

Work

Describe the exhibition idea
Evaluation of Havlandet

Meetings

Søren on thursday - discuss the evaluation and the new projectdescription

Seminar

Research at KhiB - What are we doing?

Summing up Week 38

Continue the description of the exhibition idea

Transfered to week 39

Detailed project plan for the autumn

who do we need to contact?
sponsors - how do we work with them? when to contact who? (fylkeskommune, kommune, business sponsors)

Jo-Anne starts this process in Week 39

Work on the projectdescription

Getting there! We managed to crack the nut!

Monday - Jack

Good meeting with Jack, evaluating the design of Havlandet and discussiong the new project.

Wednesday - Lykkejegerne

As mentioned again and again; the meeting where we cracked ... it. ^_^

Cracking the nut!

2007-09-20T14:30:00.000+02:00

I think we managed to crack the project last night!
The name of the project is Fiskeboller i karri
The aim is to make a traveling exhibition.
The goal is to make the visitors ask themselves "What is Norwegian?"
The takeaway message is that Culture doesn't stand still.

It has been a long discussion, and an emotional one for all of us and we were quite happy when it suddenly grew out of the pages and in our minds. Now we will have to test it with our key resources (collegues, friends, supervisors etc, both professionals and people who are potential visitors to this exhibition) and see if it holds water and endures scrutiny. Here is a video clip of our discussions at the slightly noisy kafé. We have decided to start meeting at Kunsthøgskolen, department of design, from now on.

Plan for week 38

2007-09-17T14:31:00.000+02:00

Every week
Keep the blog updated

Work

Continue the description of the exhibition idea
Detailed project plan for the autumn

who do we need to contact?
sponsors - how do we work with them? when to contact who? (fylkeskommune, kommune, business sponsors)

Work on the projectdescription

Meetings:

Monday - Jack
Wednesday - Lykkejegerne

Summing up week 37

Continue writing the evaluation

done

Prepare for meeting with Jack next week; what do I want to discuss with him?

project development, the evaluation of Havlandet, the exhibition theme

Continue research for the exhibition; food history, installation inspiration.
Visit two of Museum Vest's museums; Herdla and Kystmuseet i Øygarden.

Only visited Kystmuseet, Herdla was closed

Look at a weekly plan for the autumn. (Transfered from last week)

and transfered again

Plan for week 37

2007-09-10T11:56:00.000+02:00

Every week
Keep the blog updated

Work

Continue writing the evaluation
Prepare for meeting with Jack next week; what do I want to discuss with him?
Continue research for the exhibition; food history, installation inspiration.
Visit two of Museum Vest's museums; Herdla and Kystmuseet i Øygarden.
Look at a weekly plan for the autumn. (Transfered from last week)

Summing up week 36:
Work

Work on the process evaluation Havlandet (for meeting with Linda wednesday)

Done

Write out the new concept for the exhibition

Started

Look at a weekly plan for the autumn

transfer to week 37

Meetings

Department of Design, Petter Bergerud

Good meeting with Petter, defining what the design department can do for me (maybe not so much what I can do for them...)

Linda Kragseth (for work on the evaluation)

Very good! So that is what evaluating means!

Evaluation

2007-09-06T12:26:00.000+02:00

In order to truly learn from the process of developing Havlandet I have started to evaluate the process together with Linda Kragseth. Linda has a Bachelor of Marketing in Market communication and has been working for several years with developing the intranet for SkandiaBanken. She has a special interest in organisation development, and she seems to be asking all the right questions to bypass the obstacles of memory and personal grudges. It is very interesting to look at the process through these kind of glasses and be able to cooly draw conclusions for the benefit of future projects.

Mind you; we are not trying to make an complete evalution of the whole process, we are doing it from a slightly subjective angle; mine. As my project focus on defining my role, the role of the exhibition designer, we have decided to focus on that rather than trying to get a compelete and objective overview of the whole process. The evaluation will be finished in a few months time, I will then publish it on www.designingculture.no

Reviewing exhibitions

2007-09-05T16:02:00.001+02:00

I received Museumsnytt (the Norwegian museum magazine) in the mail yesterday, and was happy to see Åse Enerstvedt doing a review of Kongospor at Museum of Cultural history in Oslo. I went there this summer and was not too impressed. But whats more was that I decided not to read here review before I had written my own (a quick one anyway), using my structure of Narrative, Method and Design.

After doing that and reading her review I saw that we agreed very much on the Narrative side (although; she writes it, I just nod enthusiastically at everything she writes!) but we disagree on the design side! She finds it elegant, I find it dark and unrelated to the subject. Very interesting! Maybe she would be interested in collaborating on exhibiton reviews with me?

Meeting with Department of Design

2007-09-05T12:55:00.000+02:00

Monday, September 3.
Present: Petter Bergerud, Hanna Hilt

The aim of the meeting was to define how the department of design can contribute to the project. The following was concluded:

Through the development of the new exhibition, both process and design
Through critical reading of the reflection texts

Petter came with valuable insights and comments both regarding the exhibition theme, and on the research fellowship itself. He made the valuable comment that even in the endresult, the final work I produce (the reflections) there must be something more important, one single thing that is the final aim. This aim should inform all the work I am doing up to that point.

Fiskeboller med karri

2007-09-04T11:40:00.000+02:00

Things have moved fast the last weeks. Lykkejegerne has really taken off and we have had enthusiastic discussions about concept and about organisation of the project. I have also been very aware of taking my supervisor's, and other people's, advice of making the project focused enough. It is so easy to get pulled away into the energy and excitement of the work, so many things that would be fun to do! But I started to feel the same rapid heartbeat as I felt when working on Havlandet (both good and bad; exciting to work with but also stressful to balance). So we narrowed it down to one exhibition idea; "How are you connected to the world?". The idea based on the model I sketched for mapping out different foods. This would be an installation were visitors could register their family's touches with the world outside of Norway (e.g. myself: Grandma Icelandic, uncle living in Argentina, the Hilt family shipwrecking outside Bergen on their way from Germany to America, great grandpa working as a doctor for the Indians in the wild west, father born in Brooklyn, etc.) . After registering they could enter the installation and see these connections visualized around them.

But, as the professional reader will see, it is still a huge project. In addition to the immediate technical problems, there are also questions like: What audiovisuals do we show from each country? How do we deal with politically charged areas?

So we narrowed it down even further, saying that what we want to talk about is how a culture that is alive (and we want our culture to be living) will allways be open and constantly changing. It is open to new impulses and molds new and old into something unique for that place and time. We want to show this by looking at traditional food in Norway.

Risengrynsgrøt, pepperkaker, raspeballer are some examples of food we regard as truly Norwegian. But how long have they been traditional? When did they become Norwegian? They all have ingredients like rice, sugar, potatoes, black pepper and cinnamon, foods that at some stage was imported by travelling humans. (And through this we also touch the debate of who is a Norwegian. What is a second generation immigrant? Third? Fourth? Nice comment by Jill Walker Rettberg here.)

Interestingly narrowing the project down thematically, opened it up for exploring exhibition ideas and design solutions. It seems by being focused thematically we have managed to get the project to focus more on the design of the exhibit.

Plan for week 36

2007-09-04T11:18:00.000+02:00

Every week
Keep the blog updated

Work

Work on the process evaluation Havlandet (for meeting with Linda wednesday)
Write out the new consept for the exhibition
Look at a weekly plan for the autumn

Meetings

Department of Design, Petter Bergerud
Linda Kragseth (for work on the evaluation)

Touring Bergen Kommune

2007-08-31T11:28:00.000+02:00

Lykkejegerne went to a meeting with a business advisor at Bergen kommune this morning. We ended up being introduced to both the responsible for design, Evelyn Holm and to Ådne Meling who works with a new plan for "kulturnæring" (cultural business?) that Bergen kommune is initiating this fall. They were all very welcoming and eager to introduce us to the next relevant person!

The End Results

2007-08-24T14:30:00.000+02:00

What will be presented to the examiners at the end of the fellowship project?

An exhibition (Lykkejegere) with a "high international level"

A reflective text - about the designers role
Explore 3-5 topics around this theme. Base them teoretically (its often smart to disagree with somebody!) and illustrate them practically (with my own results).

Who has the editorial responsibility in the exhibition process?
...
...
...

Documentation of Havlandet

Presentation of the exhibition
(self)Evaluation of the process with experiences pointing forward to Lykkejegere.
Evaluation of the exhibition itself.

Sketches

2007-08-23T21:43:00.000+02:00

Some more sketches and exhibition ideas. One visualizing the origins of some traditional foods, like pepperkaker and risengrynsgrøt, that both are made with ingredients not grown in Norway. In a room the world map painted on all surfaces, several models of foodstuff hangs from the ceiling. Pull one down and a lights are lit in each part of the world that has provided the ingredients or development for that particular dish. Rope is connected to each of the lights so connections are at all times visible although they mix with the other food items on display and are not easy to tell apart, except when you pull and see the ropes move.

The other idea triggered by a picture in a magazine. Inspired by the old fashioned looking boxes where you can see a model landscape with several layers, like a stage set. What are they called again?

Containers

2007-08-14T17:45:00.000+02:00

On the way down from the mountains I did some sketches on how containers can be modified to make simple to operate traveling exhibitions. Keywords; sliding, folding, pulling down, raising up, turning.

Lykkejegerne has had our first meeting and the atmosphere was electric! We laughed a lot, which I think promises good for the co-operation ^^. We have started a Basecamp-site which is already working. Atm we are co-writing a short project description for presentational purposes and developing the concept, pinpointing exactly what it is we want this project to be.

Lykkejegere

2007-08-02T23:28:00.000+02:00

The NEW project is coming along nicely! Linda has said yes to being the project manager and Jo Anne will be the Graphic Designer. Together we will have equal responsibilities in developing the project. It is extremely exiting! The first time I have been able to come up with an idea and put together a team exactly the way I want it. First meeting with the triumvirate friday August 10.

Note to self

2007-07-09T17:46:00.000+02:00

E-mail from Jack today:

Try to pull together a note to yourself to prevent burn out.

Before:

Put together a project team that will pull together with you.
Make sure the project is doable given the time frame and the resources available.

During:

Always kill your darlings before they kill you!
Never be too proud to accept help. At any time. Of any kind.

Revised project description

2007-07-09T10:54:00.000+02:00

Writing the revised project description i seek refuge at Barista kaffebar. The slow murmuring in the background provides just the right amount of diversion to the deep consentration I need when writing. I notice that almost all the guests return their dishes to the counter, neatly tidying up the place. Is it because of the homey feel? Because of Anne's natural gifts at making you feel at home and welcome?

the work continues?

2007-05-07T10:23:00.000+02:00

september looms on the horizon (is that a valid image?). here are the present work areas for the next year and a half:

write - about myself as a designer, about design research, about how museums deal with designers... who has the editors power in the making of exhibitions?
research design research - and make myself an overview of what actually exists out there.
make? - do i make an exhibition on exhibitions? no i think not. too much work. but i do continue working with the mareco installation, and so my practice will continue.

2006-05-10T18:48:00.000+02:00

Stipendiatarbeider har gått fra å være et praktarbeid en gjorde på slutten av sin karriere til å være en forskerutdanning. Og det var det jeg håpet på å få da jeg begynte dette programmet, og hva jeg føler at mangler i programmet slik det er i dag. Slik programmet fremstår idag inneholder det ikke den utdanningen som andre PhD studenter går igjennom.

~~~~~~~~~

Samtale med Marthe: det er godt å jobbe med fargesetting av Ila borettslag – fordi det er et prosjekt som ligger helt innenfor mitt kompetanse område. Både når jeg jobber med utstillingsdesign og når jeg er i stipendiatprogrammet føler jeg at jeg ”lyver på meg” kompetanse jeg ikke har. Jeg er på tynn is.

Vi konkluderte at det ikke er farlig å være på tynn is, så lenge du ikke også er på dypt vann.

2006-03-26T18:01:00.000+02:00

Jeg har vel alltid vært en potensiell gamer, helt siden: hva het det nå igjen…? på Kreftregistrets DOS maskiner.

Fredag kveld spilte jeg Myst på prosjektor og satt med hjertet i halsen ved et par anledninger ( jeg er lett påvirkelig; Jurassic Park satt i kroppen i ukesvis…) I mørket og godt plassert stereo lyd var definitivt mer spennende og overveldende enn lørdag formiddag i et solfyllt soverom med musikk rett fra laptop’en. Bildene, eller scenene, i spillet er så magiske og vakkert utført at de fortjener stort format, og musikken er ubehagelig på en fin måte og gjør seg med en god bass!

Vi bør vurdere å lage en utstillingsversjon av Maretoppen… det er de færreste som har anledning til å lage seg en spill situasjon som det jeg har gjort og det gir definitivt spillopplevelsen et stort løft.

… og der er det min kompetanse kan komme inn, hittil i prosjektet føler jeg meg litt som en gratis passasjer. veldig takknemlig for å få være med, men jeg skjønner ikke helt hva jeg kan bidra med. annet enn generell entusiasme, men selv der har jeg jo ikke noe å bidra med… klarer ikke helt å henge med i utviklingen. kanskje er det bare min innebygde følelse av å måtte prestere og prestere bra. kanskje jeg skal la meg selv få lov til å være gratis-passasjer for en stund. jeg kan jo tenke litt på hvordan den fysiske interfacen skal være. og komme med innspill på det om en stund…

2006-03-16T18:03:00.000+01:00

talking to nina yesterday turned longer than expected. she was excited by the nasjonalt havressurssenter. jumped at the idea, and considered skipping her skolemuseum project to do this one instead. she does have energy! talking to her is the spark that kindles the flame in my chest. a small flame rises. very tender. can be extinguished by the smallest breath of air. the challenge is to find a way of nursing the flame, making it grow strong enough to withstand the icy winds and cold showers from admin. surely that’s not how it should be? shouldn’t the leaders of the programme be the ones to build the walls against wind, give us sun and just enough rain to make us prosper and grow into sturdy, healthy flowers? (swaping elemental metaphors for biological ones…)

2005-09-13T18:51:00.000+02:00

mine utstillingsideer (som jeg er fornøyd med)

klode med tau til å måle kystlinjen
bulkskip modell til å måle størrelse
draugen
gassmat oppdekning
plattform med små bademennesker

2005-07-05T18:45:00.000+02:00

Hildegunn Birkeland på Sølvberget har sterke meninger om hva som skal være med i utstillingen. Hun vil ikke ha med rampe, store bilder og paller. jeg må få med meg arbeidsgruppa på at det er jeg som bestemmer. Vi driver ikke utstillingssupermarked hvor du kan plukke det du vil ha med deg. Det er en pakkeløsning.

Dersom de ville ha noe å si om utformingen på utstillingen, så måtte de ha vært med de siste to årene.

2005-07-03T18:43:00.000+02:00

sint på (...) fordi han ikke har gjort jobben sin.
*ikke vært prosjektleder på noenting og ikke tatt ansvar

jeg gjorde en feil prioritering da jeg tok på meg å gjøre tekst og bilder. men det måtte være noen som var inne i prosjektet eller så hadde det blitt mye ekstra arbeide uansett. i hvertfall på bildene. ~ kanskje tekstene kunne vært satt opp av noen andre.

hvis jeg ikke hadde gjort det hadde jeg kanskje hatt overskudd og tid til å tenke på de tingene som mangler: innledningstekst til hver sone. og en guide til utstillingen.

2005-06-27T18:41:00.000+02:00

Vi kunne laget en tradisjonell utstilling – ”fiskeri – havbruk – olje” – med store bilder av blide oljearbeidere…

Jeg som trodde at utstillingen i Stavanger ble en mistilpasset versjon av den perfekte Bergens utstillingen ~ også blir det nesten motsatt! Utstillingen i Bergen er jo allerede tilpasset Stavanger. Den er planlagt for flytting. Høydene er tilpasset Stavanger.

Vi planla at alt i Pulsåra skulle skje på nedsiden av kaikanten – sånn at en tittet ned i vannet fra brygga – men det gav ikke den følelsen vi trodde. Det fungerte ikke som vi tenkte. Det ble ikke åpent – men tomt.

2005-06-22T18:36:00.000+02:00

Jeg har ikke fått til:

helhet (28/07
- eller heller
”sammenheng”)

(noen sier helhet er fin i hvit sal, noen synes alt blir for likt. eiliv synes gul sal var mer spennende og variert)

klarhet: overbyggende budskap

("naturgitte" er uoversiktlig – bannerne skulle ikke hengt på søylene. )

presisjon i detaljer.

(hvit boks = STYGT laget!!!)

ting som skulle vært på plass men ikke er mitt ansvar:

*leaflet til caféer og turistinfo
*fører til gratis utdeling.
*websiden
*ekstra program
*pr – strategi

jeg har sagt før at min styrke er konseptualisering. dvs at jeg må ha med meg en av de unge trendy som kan gjøre detaljering. gjøre set pent rett og slett. kanskje det er det som kunne vært greit å få ut av et etablert firma. jeg er perfeksjonist og blir fysisk dårlig av å se dårlig arbeide. jeg kan jobbe i timesvis med å få en detalj perfekt i mitt eget hjem. jeg står ikke for utførelsen av Havlandet. jeg står ikke for teknikk som ikke virker.

”du må ta tilbake ditt eget liv.”
sa grete

se på bladene som hun kaller det. hva er det jeg synes er gøy?

2005-06-21T18:32:00.000+02:00

samtale med grete

rydde opp i egne følelser

* i ansvarsforhold – mine og andres

* ta ansvar for både godt og dårlig
dette klarte jeg…
dette klarte jeg ikke

”dette er mitt liv”

- ta kontroll -

sinne som er vendt innover – hvem er jeg sint på?
(...)
alle som ikke har gjort en god nok jobb…

utstillingen er ikke bra nok. hva er nok?

- føler meg ufortjent skrytt opp ~ redd for å skuffe. meg selv og andre

har alltid ønsket å være en solid fagperson.
ikke berømt – men kjent i fagmiljøet for å være flink…