False Spring is a 6 channel sound and light installation by Thora Dolven Balke. The works' narrative core is a daily, sober cataloguing of the weather from the beginning of January to February 2020, conveyed by a narrator's voice against a backdrop of changing soundscapes.
The repetition of dates and weather patterns becomes an experinece of time passing, with a list of concrete, recogniseable facts giving a sense of normalcy and calm.
Still, the work unfolds in the months before the world changed dramatically due to the Covid-19 pandemic, forcing large parts of the global population into isolation. Since then many have been made to observe the world at a distance, whilst tracking scientific facts in an attempt to maintain control. Conversing about and recognising patterns of weather is one of the most universal subjects, but one that bears new significance and increasing uncertainty in recent times.
Every language contains a large variety of expressions to describe weather, constructed to share advice and give warnings to subsequent generations. «False Spring» is one of several such expressions and words that are woven into the sound installation.
The lighting in the gallery space has been staged to give a sense of time suspended. It falls on a series of images printed on soft silicone and draped across structures in the space, taken of a car after an impact has splintered its front window and released the air bags. Together the elements in the installation create an ongoing moment that is about instability, but also the potential beauty that arises when you find yourself in an extraordinary situation, forced to observe the world through new eyes, with renewed focus and a new experience of time.
Light consultation: Poul Toft Iversen.
Curated by Julie Lillelien Porter and supported by Arts Council Norway/FFLB, Bergen City Council and Notam.