VIA NORSKE FJELL del 5

Artist Maiken Stene describes the project as a painting installation that combines elements of video, stagelights, sound and interactive play. It was a setup that changed and then found its form, while holding the potensial of further dispositions.

She goes on to say that…

the mountain as surface, and the attempts to physically understand what a mountain is. As my starting point, I have looked at industrially produced mountainsides from before 1870, when ore was extracted using nitroglycerin in hand-drilled boreholes, made with hammer and chisel. While working on the paintings, I’ve stood directly in front of the mountainsides, studying them intensely. Then I’ve returned to the studio and painted from memory.

Fast. They are made as direct responses—painted from the afterimages of the rock face. Executed with rollers, on the floor or standing, using large brushes, sweeping strokes, with my hands, in gestures that physically mimic the mountain wall in front of me. The paintings have two sides and can be moved and rotated around their own axis. You look at a surface, flip it, and encounter a surface again—just like with a mountain. Even when we blast it away to get closer, we are always met with another wall of stone.

the exhibition was filled with a live performance by artist Greg Pope and myself, where we created a film in and with the installation. It was a playful affair, improvising with filming, movement, poetry reading, music, and interaction with the audience. In the center of the installation, we set up an editing station, where we worked daily to make a film with and around the paintings. When the festival ended, the installation remained in place, now showing the film we created during the week. - Maiken Stene 2025