januar
1997
video projection with sound
12 mins
dimensions variable
The title januar is the Norwegian form of January, a month where the artist's homeland is covered with snow. A white surface as a tabula rasa and the month of January both suggest new beginnings and potential. In januar movement and sound create a stark duality between presence and absence, being and nothingness.
A white dense surface fills the entire screen. The muted soundtrack strengthens this blankness by filling the space with silence. Then something breaks through this surface. Simultaneously, we hear everyday sounds. This something, part of a breast it seems, soon retreats below the surface. It continues to emerge and retreat in a rhythmic pattern - like breathing. When the white becomes an uninterrupted surface again the soundtrack turns silent, making an alternating pattern of silence, sound, silence accompanying the physical movement. This is a performative work filmed by the artist and performed by the artist. The sound is everyday sound from the countryside in Gloucestershire.
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