Sandskolen - Sand School
Exhibition Description
In the first half of September, an unusual experiment took place at Velferden, where six visual artists - Siri Austeen, Stefan Schröder, Agnes Mohlin, Naomi Fisher, Maiken Stene and Hans Edward Hammonds - studied the material properties of a 7 million ton sand pile that we have lying in the backyard at Velferden. The sand is called “tailings” and is an accumulation of waste from the production of the white pigment titanium dioxide in Sokndal municipality.
During the two-week workshop SANDSKOLEN (The Sand School); we carried out physical experiments on the sand by making art with it, trying to make glass out of it, sculptures, extract sound and metals, and generally study its internal composition in conference with experts from the mineral industry, and through talk with locals - whose walking shoes regularly fill with sand. Together, we engaged in a process-oriented exploration of tailings as a material for art production and a metaphor for broader environmental and industrial issues.
After the two-week exploration, SANDSKOLEN joined forces with the research project NorWhite, and welcomed to Sokndal for a two-day programme with an international symposium, exhibitions, performance and artist presentations. The programme was conducted in English to accommodate our international guests.
PROGRAMME SATURDAY 14. SEPTEMBER 2024
Symposium day 2 SANDSKOLEN at Velferden Center for Contemporary Art:
- 09:30 - Bus departure from Stavanger bus terminal to Velferden
- 11:15 - 11:30 - Presentation by Maiken Stene and Hans Edward Hammonds
- 11:30 - 11:45 - Introduction to the exhibition Hidden Stone by Marte Johnslien
- 11:45 - 12:30 - Lunch at Velferden - (available for purchase)
- 12:30 - 13:30 - Artist talks with participants from SANDSKOLEN: Siri Austeen, Stefan Schröder, Agnes Mohlin, Naomi Fisher, Maiken Stene and Hans Edward Hammonds
- 13:30 - 16:00 - Workshop in groups with field trips and performance by Marie Ronold Mathisen and John Derek Bishop
- 16:00 - Bus departure from Velferden to Stavanger
- 18:00 - Arrival Stavanger
