On Precarious Ground

'On Precarious Ground' (Norwegian: 'På utrygg grunn') is a site-specific installation produced collaboratively by Ingrid Pumayalla, Michael Taiwo, Kirsten Bertelsen and me during the month-long Stokkøyart residency programme in September 2019. It is permanently installed outside Bygda 2.0, Stokkøya, Norway, and was unveiled to the public on 27th September. Below is our collaborative text which accompanied the sculptures and sound composition we created: "The fragility and unpredictability of the earth beneath our feet have shaped the artists’ experiences throughout this year’s Stokkøyart residency. The journey from Trondheim Airport to Stokkøya was redirected as a result of the Stokksundveien landslide almost entirely decimating the road and cutting the island off from mainland Norway. Consequently, the artists travelled there by boat; the way the island’s inhabitants and visitors have done for centuries prior to the modern bridges and roads being built. Until an old horse track was made accessible there was no passage to or from the island by car. This led them to consider questions around the liability of infrastructure and what happens when it fails to perform." "Based in Fosen, Trøndelag, the four artists from British, Danish, Nigerian and Peruvian backgrounds have collaborated and explored the DNA of the island of Stokkøya in the municipality of Åfjord. They have channelled their experiences and research into the production of an installation comprising five painted sculptures constructed from steel found amongst the chaos of natural debris at the landslide site. Each shape has been transformed by the catastrophe from its sleek, streamlined original form to contorted, irregular and characterful objects which express the landscape’s act of rebellion against excessive industrial development. Accompanying this installation is a sound work (inserted below) which consists of social media posts relating to the landslide and the transportation issues it created, resulting in the building of new social infrastructure."