Fiskeboller med karri

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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Revised project description

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?

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the work continues?

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.

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