Marit Følstad

Norway, b. 1969 in Tromsø.

First sound work: Red Sound – 1999.

Marit Følstad: The Shattered Dream of Coexistence

"Many of Marit Følstad’s works takes an interest in the social construction of space. Where does the 'I' end and the 'Other' begin, at what point, at what surface? She has explored bodily limits in different ways. In the Memory Drawing performances she lies exposed and naked on the floor, tracing concentric circles around her body with a pen on the floor. The graphical line offers a kind of incorporeal protection to the body within: 'hither, and no further'.

In the video Amplified there is no protection from evil 'other' forces. The female body is a target for faceless violence. The hand is forcefully active, the body hopelessly passive. The victim’s countenance degrades, the skin reddens, she flinches for each heavy blow, she almost begins to cry, but with an effort, holds back. Thus, this sad, quiet emotion brings no catharsis for us on-lookers, because there seems to be no salvation for the victim. She is contained within her own wretchedness, in her final humiliation, and there is no way out. The surface of her skin is the violated border. Only her widened eyes open up to her inner fields — still her selfhood seems to persevere. She holds the beholder in a steady gaze. The situation is locked: We should be moved by pathos, we should run to the aid of the prey of the violent animal — but we cannot. We can only act through beholding, but by viewing the crime, and not helping, we end carrying the burden of guilt.

Følstad cherishes ritualistic action, slow motion and protracted time: She offers the viewer a space for experience and contemplation. In Amplified (as well as in an earlier video from 2003, Strategies for Living), this protraction leads to despair. This is the cul-de-sac of love. It should be pointed out that even if Amplified seems without redemption, Følstad offers solutions in other works. She has used the colour pink as an allusion to love. In the performance Loosing Ground #3 (2002) the artist sprays the neon-pink message 'us for life' on a white wall somewhere in Northern Norway. The heart-shaped neon sculpture Love Heart (2002) in the same way seems to indicate that there still is hope. The 'I' and the 'Other' might find a way to coexist, even if it, at times, seems like a dream."

/ (Text by Jan von Bonsdorff, Acting Professor at the Department of Art History, University of Uppsala, Sweden)

maritfolstad@hotmail.com

http://www.folstad.net