Without Wind (2011). Site-specific installation at Götafors in an old industrial landscape. Twelve oars placed parallel to the river articulate a state of suspended propulsion in a former industrial waterway. The work anticipates later investigations in Big Blu by addressing water as an active agent and by exploring the tension between surface, depth, movement, and human intervention.
Along the edge of a pond where the water slows as it passes through the former industrial site, I placed twelve oars arranged parallel to the water. The work engaged with notions of movement, resistance, and suspended action, evoking a collective yet impossible gesture—an effort without propulsion.
Titled Without Wind, after a traditional Scandinavian song, the installation draws on maritime references and embodied knowledge connected to water, labor, and navigation. In retrospect, the work can be understood as an early articulation of themes later developed in Big Blu, particularly the relationship between water as surface and depth, human intervention, and the tension between control and surrender within aquatic environments.
