Gallery
IOL 2024
WRITING IN WATER
Underwater projection
UNIVERSITY COLLEGE DALARNA/ SWEDEN
Location 1
The speed of light and the speed of sound are very different but united in the nature of their behaviour: from a source, to a destination.
Water is different; it has flow, sometimes directed, sometimes chaotic. The sea has rhythm: hightide, low tide, back and forth, the energy of waves breaking on the shore, the calm and the storm.
"Writing in Water" is an audiovisual work by the students of the program of Audiovisual Production from University College Dalarna which plays with the flow, the rhythm and the chaotic nature of this essential element.
summer city of love!
Monumental projection
LENA MATTSSON/ SWEDEN
Location 2
In a troubled time of inhuman suffering, war and violence,
perhaps we want to see a glimmer of light in the darkness?
Lena Mattsson's new works are filmed and edited to be projected onto a boathouse on Smögen's jetty, where they interact with the unique environment and its historical context with sharp precision.We get to enter as visitors into a magical world, a realization of the place's own poetry. There, past, present, dream and reality are woven together. In war and love, everything is supposed to be allowed, so perhaps also these revelations of boundlessness in time and space?
The music is specially composed by the multifaceted Conny C-A Malmqvist, who, in addition to being a writer and philosopher, also regularly creates the sound visions that accompany Lena Mattson's imagery. The work is dedicated to all residents and visitors to this magical island.Lena Mattsson herself grew up in the area and is inspired by the place and its surroundings, which have deeply influenced her artistry.
Lena Mattsson was born in Kungshamn in 1966 and works in Malmö.
Oönskade gäster
Light installation in two pieces
MARELD! STUDENTS FROM GERLESBORG SCHOLL OF FINE ARTS/ SWEDEN
Marita Hesse, Hella Marie Kölpin, Amanda Berge, Eleonore Stenquist Wesen, Kajsa Rasmussen
Location 3
In the creation of our installation "Unwanted guests", we have used materials from the marine recycling center in Kungshamn. The trash in our oceans is not just waste floating around; Ghost nets and huge amounts of plastic waste pose a major problem in the form of uninvited guests that disturb the balance of the ocean and threaten its inhabitants.
The work challenges the viewer to redefine the view of what is valuable and beautiful, highlighting the beauty of what others have rejected. Unwanted guests catch the light with fishing nets.
In collaboration with the Marine Recycling Center in Sotenäs: Material for the work is Fishing nets from the Marine Recycling Center in Sotenäs and LED lights.
http://www.gerlesborgsskolan.se/
A COMPOST PILE OF PAST, PRESENT & FUTURE
Monumental projection
SUSANNE FAGERLUND / SWEDEN
Location 4
Susanne Fagerlund's installation is a thought-provoking exploration of animals, plants, and digital hybrid species. In a collaborative effort with the Hasselblad Foundation and Gothenburg's Natural History Museum, she used their digital image archive of living, threatened and extinct species as a starting point. Fagerlund viewed these image archives as a 'compost pile of past, present, and future'. Through a kaleidoscope of algorithms and digital tools, she 'chipped, shredded and layered' the archives, giving rise to new digital species. The resulting projection is a speculative ecosystem where past and future coexist as tentacular hybrid species. This installation serves as a reminder of the interconnectedness of all life forms on Earth and the urgent need for collective action to address our cultural and ecological challenges.
Susanne Fagerlund is a visual artist based in Gothenburg. In 2021, she took her MFA in Free Art at HDK-Valand, and in 2023, she completed a post-master's course at the Royal Academy of Arts. In her artistic practice, she explores the relationship and belonging between man and nature - often filtered through technology. Her installations oscillate between digital technology (including AI), video, sound, sculptures, and photography. Fagerlund has exhibited at Borås Art Museum, Copenhagen Photo Festival, Hasselblad Center and Galleri Duerr, among others. In 2023, she was named 'Nordic Future Talent' through the Future Foundation (co-founded by the EU's Creative Europe program).
http://www.susannefagerlund.com/
light AND nature
Live Performance
STUDENTS FROM PERFORMNING ARTS SCHOOL, GÖTEBORG, UNDER THE DIERCTION OF EMMA-KARA NILSSON / SWEDEN
Location 5
Light in Nature- An Investigative Meeting
Light Performance – Together we investigate the meeting between Nature, Light and the spectators.
https://www.performingartsschool.se/
A WALK THROUGH THE BOTTOM
Monumental installation with over 300 objects
Location 6
When the sea is dead there will be no one to cry for it.
I heard about this man, this old fisherman who knows this and decided to make a difference. And he initiated a shift to the other side. He advocated a way to help the sea, which has been giving for thousands of years. Today, Smogen, in addition to all the fishing tradition and natural beauty, can be proud of its recycling center, which shows the way to perhaps delay the imminent moment. Thousands of kilometers of forgotten nets are rising back to the surface and being processed into useful objects.
This is a small but at the same time immeasurably big story that needs to be heard. It is a beginning that counts only if it is only the beginning of some larger general turn. Who else should step on this path, if not children. Children who today use their hands and innocent imagination to make hundreds of sea creatures from forgotten nets and floats from the seabed in order to give the sea its soul back.
With the participation of 60 students from the primary school in Kungshamn, and in collaboration with the Marine Recycling Center in Sotenäs and FFN Fiskare Föreningen Norden in Smögen.
aBiogenesis
Monumental immersive projection
MARKOS KAY / ENGLAND
Location 7
Monumental immersive projection of an 11-minute audio-visual work in two parts, set to music by English composer Jesse Solomon Clark. On a projection area of over 3,000 sqm on the rocks of a Nature Area, this will be the largest projection ever made of Markos Kay's artistic work and the first time that it is shown in such harmony with Nature.
aBiogenesis is a conceptual reimagining of the scientific theories of the origins of life. The film tells the story of inorganic matter organising itself into membranes, protocells and finally multicellular arrays. Through the use of generative algorithms it draws parallels between the processes of nature and modern computational methods.
Markos Kay is a contemporary artist and designer based in London, known for his digital art and the exploration of complex scientific and philosophical themes, with a focus on science and generative art. An important theme in his work is the investigation of the computational paradigm in contemporary science and its effect on culture and knowledge creation. Since 2019, Markos Kay has been largely bedridden as a result of a neuroimmune disease, so he creates all the works from his home. His work has been shown in museums all over the world, most recently in the exhibition Latent Spaces at Illusionaries in London and in the exhibitions Nature Portals at Fotografiska in Stockholm (Summer 2024).
LANTERNS
Spatial Installation
ALEKSANDRA STRATIMIROVIC / SWEDEN
Location 8
Since her first visit to Smögen and her meeting with Dulce Sales Ahlberg , the founder of Island of Light, Aleksandra has developed a strong connection to the world of Island of Light. Inspired by the unique nature of Smögen, the people she met, the sea life, and its fragile environment, Aleksandra has been creating spatial light and sound installations for each edition of Island of Light. Her works are the result of an ongoing and inspiring collaboration with the “Sotenäs Marine Recycling Center,” which manages discarded fishing gear, ghost nets, and ocean plastic collected from shorelines all over Sweden.
Through her installations, Aleksandra aims to raise awareness of ecological problems. We follow Aleksandra's vision.
This year, it's time for Lanterns.
in co-operation with The Marin Recycling Center Sotenäs.
DOWN THE RABBIT-HOLE
Monumental Projection
KRISTINA EDLUND / SWEDEN
Location 9
Monumental Projection with the participation of 210 students from Elementary School in Smögen.
Welcome down the rabbit-hole. Deep, deep down the rabbit-hole you'll find a place only the most imaginative can see with the naked eye. The artist, Kristina, has taken the help of 210 students from elementary school in Smögen who can see this place and they have together created a window for you to see through.
In this work you'll get to explore what hides in the pits & cracks of the cliffs, what crafts only appear in the fog and what hides beneath the surface around Smögen.
LICHEN MANDALA
Light Installation in Nature
ANT DICKINSON / WALES
Location 10
Mandalas are used in various spiritual traditions as aids to meditation and as spiritual guidance tools.
Lichen Mandala includes structures inspired by the simple lifeforms that can be found in abundance on these rocks. Although often seen as a single entity, Lichen itself is a symbiosis of algae and fungus.
Without the development of this relationship across species millions of years ago life would never have transitioned from the sea to land.
Animalia
Monumental projection
KURBAS PRO / UKRAINE
Location 11
The contours of rocks and the natural environment spark a deep exploration of forms within nature, drawing meaningful parallels to our own existence. The animal kingdom, (lat. Animalia), emerges as a source of inspiration during life's trials. Observing the resilience and determination in their ways of being, we find a testament to willpower and endurance.
Particulary something is fascinating about the phenomenon of spawning. While the notion of moving against the current flow may appear anomalous, it is often a necessary path to achieve one's aspirations and complete one's mission. This journey demands overcoming of numerous obstacles: navigating rapids, confronting currents, evading pitfalls, and overcoming artificial barriers. Despite the risks of failure, being hunted or pursued, this drive towards securing one's future somehow remains undeterred.
KurbasPro is Creative Production Studio and artist Group composed by 5 artists,
living and working in Lviv , Ukraine.
Monumental projection , on a projection area of 750 sqm on the rocks of a Nature Area
RETURN TO SMÖGEN
Site Specific Monumental projection in two pieces
AXEL AHLSÉN / SWEDEN
Location 12
You can see a lot of things in my works. What I really want is to show what is here and now. Because it is always here and now, that reality exists. Going somewhere leads nowhere. I can take the Rock to the Castle of Chenonceau and then the Castle back to the Rock. What I can create is irrelevant.
Anyone who looks at the work sees both two rocks in a video artwork and the real rocks here and now. It's that moment, you as a viewer can hopefully capture. Here, Chenonceau Castle becomes just a detour to find that feeling, which gives a new perspective on the place, in which the present is expressed. Where the boundary between looking at a work, the exhibition's space and surroundings is blurred.
Axel Ahlsén was born in 1989 in Uppsala and lives in Marstrand; His photo- and video works have been shown at a wide range of exhibitions in Sweden.
In my way of working, photographs are simply elements to create a picture. With a background in physics I’ve come to make aquaintance with mathematics. This tool in combination with Photoshop have proven interesting in the ways of playing with concepts of symmetry and asymmetry.
The geometry which comes with mathematical relations gives me options to make precise ensembles and still leave room for the viewers imagination.
PLANET OCEAN
A plea addressed to humanity for respect for the world in which we live.
A film by Yann Arthus-Bertrand and Michael Pitiot
“Planet Ocean” is a 90-minute international documentary produced by Hope Production,
in association with the Tara Foundation and in partnership with OMEGA.
“Planet Ocean” is a plea addressed to humanity for respect for the world in which we live.
“For a long time I contemplated the ocean without understanding it. I felt the immense energy of its waters. I was surprised at the depth of his bruises. I breathed in the sea air.
But in reality I didn’t see anything…”
This is what humanity says at the beginning of the film “Planet Ocean”.
Thanks to breathtaking aerial images, by Yann Arthus-Bertrand, and those of award-winning underwater cameramen, the film takes its viewers on a unique journey
to the heart of our blue planet.
Co-written by Michael Pilot, in collaboration with a unique team of oceanographers and biologists from several countries, this work shows the beauty of the oceans, their diversity, their usefulness, but also the threats that present to them today and the solutions that can be found.
Because Man is both the cause and the solution to all problems...
From plankton to whales, from fishermen in Papua New Guinea to container ships transiting between China and the USA, from coastal metropolises to beaches popular with vacationers... this documentary reminds us that we are all inhabitants of the same blue planet and explores the ancestral and fragile bond that unites Man and the oceans.
“Planet Ocean” won the prize for best cinematography at the
Blue Ocean Festival in Monterey (USA)
PLANET OCEAN at ISLAND OF LIGHT in co-operation with
GOODPLANET FONDATION
In partnership with OMEGA
Yann Arthus-Bertrand is a French photographer, journalist, reporter and environmentalist. He is the president of the GoodPlanet Foundation, which he created in 2005. Appointed Goodwill Ambassador by the United Nations Environment Program 2009, the same year he directed his first feature film, HOME, on the state of our planet. In 2015, he released the film HUMAN, which premiered at the United Nations and the Venice Film Festival. In 2019, he co-directed the documentary, WOMAN, with his frequent collaborator Anastasia Mikova.
HUMAN HABITAT
Director: Flavia Devonas Hoffmann
Producer: Aleksander Olai Korsnes
Human Habitat originates in the clash between untouched nature and growing industry in the Arctic and explores the oscillation between human resistibility and fragility. A female dancer takes us on an associative, non-narrative journey through emotional states, facing the changes from a sustainable to a destructive relationship between humans and the landscape.
In Co-operation with INTERNATIONAL SAMI FILM INSTITUT
Not Without Gloves
a Film by LENA MATTSSON
Lena Mattsson´s Not without gloves reveal the common identity that we share in the
experience and memory of the landscapes we come from, which in this particular case is
also Mattson’s own origin.
The film problematize a romantic nature experience through various distortions,
interpretations and questioning of the original place. Instead, we are allowed to enter as
visitors into a magical world. Where Mattsson highlights in a poetic way the COVID-19
pandemic and global environmental change.
Music by Conny C-A Malmqvist.
”Not Without Gloves” has been awarded a very long list
of prestigious international prizes around the world :
30 st Award Winner
”Not Without Gloves” will be featured in VARIETY during the 81st edition of the
VENICE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL.
A YEAR
IN THE ARTIC WILD
SVANTE LYSÉN
A collaboration with NATURFILMARNA
14 months of isolated wilderness year in the Scoresbysund Fjord in East Greenland. Powerful natural scenery and animals mix with everyday life at the winter cabin at Sydkap.
"My absolute highlights in life have been three very eventful wilderness years, first in Canada and then in Spitsbergen and Greenland, where my companions and I in each area have lived completely isolated from civilization for 13 to 14 months. The purpose has been to photograph and film, study and document animals and nature, live a timeless life close to nature, fish and hunt for a living, and follow the changing of the seasons. Not least, it has been exciting to build houses of my own mind and see how it works in reality for a year." - Svante Lysén