The 8th Sister
Echo sound sculpture, sunk 10 m beneath the sea in Træna, 50 km off the north-west coast of Norway, 2005
An exercise into the depths of Freudian perception, Motherboard 2005 Underwater sculpture to be viewed via echosounder display in Træna, off the coast of North Norway.
Target audience: fisher people, seafarers and tourists
The 8th Sister is an art project that investigates the practical and contextual implications of creating an underwater sculpture in which its “true” form is manifested as an image on an ultrasound/echosounder display.
Knud Baade, 1838, Paintings in the Nordnorsk Kunstmuseum
In 2009 Per Platou and Amanda Steggel invited me to participate in their Motherboard production the 8th Sister. I was filming the underwater placement of the sculpture and did several interviews with the local society to explore how they were experiencing such a incomprehensible work in their own “backyard”.
What soon stood out as the most interesting part of the project for me was the local storytelling taking the work on its own journey. The creation of a temporary myth during the time of the project, based on the ancient story of the 7 fossilized sisters giving shape to the local mountain chain, their long lost sister and now her contemporary re enactment in the consciousness of the small island community.
Location
N66’29’03, E 12’06’04
CONSTRUCTION AND MATERIAL
The 8th Sister was constructed of 12.500 m of silver thread and 5000 one-kroner coins.
The thread was cut into lengths of 3-5 m, and each thread was weighted down with a one-kroner coin.
Hundreds of “bundles” of The 8th Sister were thrown overboard……..
collected by the divers, and put into place to create a figure of approximately 10 x 3 m.
Commemorative stone
A commemorative stone now lies at the bottom of the sea bed by the side of The 8th Sister and awaits visitations by future divers.
Echosounder manifestations
L. MMS from local shop keeper. R. View via Kjell Johnny’s echosounder.
The 8th Sister is rendered differently on diverse echosounders and according to the direction that you pass over her.
Eye witness report
A Monument for the women
The first time I sailed over her with the echosounder she looked like an angel. The second time, she looked like a mermaid. If you look down at her into the water, you can see something glittering but you can’t see her form.
Living here it’s natural that people end up at the bottom of the sea. And not just men. Women too. I don’t really think that I connect the 8th Sister with the 7 Sisters (mountains). She could be just one of a large flock of sisters, but it is quite natural that she should lie down there. We always hear about how many men have died at sea, but rarely how many women. There are many women who have drowned in this area, but The 8th Sister, we know where she is! The others, they’re gone for ever. I think that she is a monument for all the women who have drowned in this area.
[Shop keeper/ fisherwoman]
Local rumours
Oh yes, I’ve heard about her!
You’ve re-written history! I’ve heard she’s a really lovely lady – but she’ll only draw men out to see her. You’ll have to sink something else to get the women out there too.
[Unknown profession]
I’ve read about her in the newspaper.
Technically speaking, you can’t see her without an echosounder. I think the idea’s great since I work with electronics. You never can tell how she will reflect. If you sail over her in one direction, you’ll see the whole of her body, but if you choose another direction, you may not see her at all. It’s all about reflection.
[Electrician]
Dreams
I always wanted a younger sister, and now I’ve got one.
I am the youngest of 4 brothers and I grew up without a sister. I think my childhood was poorer because of this.
[Fish farm entrepeneur]
Speculations
The seven others, they’re not going anywhere. They just got stoned!
The 8th (sister) is the youngest. She was on the move and got lost. With time she’ll probably move on, up North with the gulf stream, probably to Lofoten.
[Fireman, boat designer/builder, head of hunting and rescue operations]
An ultrasonic sound sculpture on Mars!
“The 8th Sister. An exercise into the depth of Freudian perception” was successfully teleported to the MES (Mars Exhibition Site), Thursday, July 7, 2005, 19:00 (GMT).
Download a qt movie (3.2 mb) of the transmission HERE
For more about MES, go to: http://www.mars-patent.org
The 8th Sister photoalbum
The 8th Sister Photo Album contains several hundred images of our experience in Træna – work, play, people and stunning landscapes. You can choose to let a 30-minute slideshow pass before your eyes, or select images at your leisure by clicking the thumbnails in the left hand column.
L-R: Lars Inge Ingebrigtsen, Kjell Johnny Johnsen, Rolf-Olav Andresen and John Kåre Olsen.
With the help of Neptun Sports Diving Club (Sandnesjøen) and Kjell Johnny Johnsen (Husøy, Træna), The 8th Sister was finally sunk 10 m beneath the sea in Træna, an archipelago of more than 1000 islands and skerries 50 km off the north-west coast of Norway.
The documentation video from the 8th sister is available HERE (mp4 format, 95Mb, 14,41 mins)