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Opera
4K video with sound
phosphorescent silkscreen print on cotton fabric
2021
An opera singer is doing vocal exercises in the darkness of a former iron ore mine. The word opera is borrowed from Italian and means work, both in the sense of the labour done and as a result produced.
The glow-in-the-dark poem consists of found sentences from texts about miners who sang or made sounds to keep a consistent rhythm while working.
Opera is part of the site-specific collaborative project Book of Sand / Singular Hands with artists Matt Bryans and Håvard Sagen and sociologist Merete Jonvik. Together we explored the dormant mythologies of three artist-run spaces in Rogaland, Norway. These places were situated in a post-mining landscape, a marketplace, and agricultural surroundings.
Directing, filming and editing: Ananda Serné
Soprano: Bodil Arnesen
Sound recording: Håvard Sagen & Ananda Serné
Sound mastering: Sveinbjörn Thorarensen
Book of Sand / Singular Hands was supported by the Arts Council Norway, Billedkunstnernes Vederlagsfond, Stavanger Kommune and Rogaland Fylkeskommune.