et stille friluftsliv, a silent return to the land
In the whirlwind of industrialization and urbanization, we seem to have forgotten our relationship to the natural world and I think it is time that we remember our friluftsliv, a Norwegian word that roughly translates to the idea of returning to nature, returning home. This winter, I went back to the woods I grew up in and experienced an unusually stille friluftsliv, or a silent return to the land.
I felt compelled to create something tied with nature that sprouted from current environmental dilemmas. Thinking about these issues made me realize what it was that I was passionate about and it was this that propelled me to create over a hundred spherical forms out of balloons, hot glue, steel chains and birch bark from those woods, where I eventually installed them. I attached the forms to birch tree branches and then took a time-lapse, photos and videos of the work.
Berit Schurke: friluftsliv #2
Berit Schurke
“friluftsliv,” 2016
birch bark, balloons, hot glue and steel chain, 10 x 10 ft.