to tug an oar through the heavy sea
to force the sea to succumb
force it to bow itself
yield to me
clap for me
like the sea that clapped rocks
on its shoulders
while the pilot-whale fog approaches
Wool, fishing line, wire and stones.
2020
Sigrún Alba Sigurðardóttir, curator:
“In the work to change what was intended… Alda works effectively with both the cultural heritage and nature of the Faroe Islands. The work is made of linen, silk, wool, steel threads and string and levitates in space like a living being, insisting on its right to exist, while also directing the viewer’s attention to the fine threads from which nature is woven and culture is spun. The poem, which is an inseparable part of the eponymous work, tells of man’sattempts to subdue the forces of nature; to subject the ocean to obey the human being who pats the sea with his oars, just as the sea pats the stones, while the fog closes in on the shore.”
Kinna Poulsen, curator:
“As the text indicates, Eyðunardóttir’ s work relates to nature, which is personified and forced to conform to the poetic self. The text features quite a number of verbs: change/tug/force/yield/clap, forming a dynamic, almost seditious entity. According to the artist, the work is based on the idea that our culture tries to curb our nature or, as she expressed it (in an email to me): “I think we humans have tried to control nature and have forgotten that we are a part of it. The feeling of having to fit into society, while the function of psychology is to make sure that natural emotions are retained or subdued so that we can function as useful citizens in society. The feeling of having to change character every time you enter a new room. Thoughts of not stooping and just being human/vulnerable/Faroese...”
Exhibited in the exhibition Fow Sweapt Cargo at Scan House, New York, Conversations about Fog at Nordatlantens Brygge, High Tide - Low Tide, at Hafnarborg, Centre of Culture and Fine Art in Hafnarfjørður, Iceland as well as at the National Gallery of the Faroe Islands in 2021.
The work has since been acquired by The New Carlsberg Foundation.