Sea Tranquil

Sea Tranquil took place in the former gymnasium of the Infantry Officer School in Northern Norway.
When you walk into the exhibition, you find yourself in a dimly lit room. In the sand lay rows of glass plates, spread out on waxen boards. Then, scattered among the glass plates, one could see wax casts of seal heads. All this was also illuminated in flashes by six slide projectors, which cast strips of light across the floor and engaged the audience each time the image changed. Furthermore, at the other end of the room, by the edge of the sand, stood a row of glass jars filled with seawater.

On the wall above, an image was projected. Some people could see a skinned seal head. Further into the building, in a smaller room, Inghild Karlsen covered a large part of the floor with bones set in wax and arranged in rows according to type and size. A slide projector projected unfocused, reddish images. On the wall hung five A4-size photocopies showing bloody, skinned seal carcasses being unloaded on a quay.

Karlsen’s research trip to Svalbard formed the basis for several ideas that led to her Sea Tranquil exhibition. It also demonstrates her artistic approach to nature and landscape. Environmental themes were already prominent in her debut exhibition. During the festival, she exhibited several large felt sculptures outdoors in Harstad’s urban space, most of which had been created for previous exhibitions and performances.

“Another reason for this study is that I believe Karlsen, with Sea Tranquil, is pointing the way forward for younger generations in terms of how they work with connections between ecology, nature and identity.” Svein Ingvoll Pedersen

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