– Were you born? Oslo, Norway
– Where do you live? Oslo, Norway
– What pronouns do you use? He/him
– What makes you work with performance?
Exhibitionism, really. It's a bit misunderstood as a term - usually deemed as something willfully immoral or taboo. I'm not gonna deny that there isn't an element of it either, but the crux of exhibitionism to me is more about the joy of creating something live. To perform is to adapt to others and to surroundings. It is to be fascinated by, thrilled and willing to negotiate the perimeters of 'doing something while someone's looking at you' and, ultimately, never being fully in control of this process. There's a risk and dare to performance that I love, which I don't find elsewhere. And ideally, performance art can create some wild circumstances and moods that a group of people are all sensing together.
– Do you have any rituals before performing?
Not anything as such. Usually, I have a cup of herbal tea and then I pace back and forth for a while if I'm alone.
– What was the best performance you have done so far? Why?
When I was a student at Filmkunstskolen in Kabelvåg I had a performance as part of the official opening of the new facilities. As was mandatory for the county, there was a fancy lunch with politicians, financial backers and construction leaders. There were three of us students who were invited to take part in an entertainment section with whatever we wanted to perform. One friend of mine gave a lovely, cordial speech about commemorating the old and welcoming the new, while the other played some beautiful violin. I wasn't really thinking about how this was being received by the audience, but I realized in retrospect that I couldn't have asked for a better buildup. My performance consisted of undressing to a bondage vest, collapsing in between the tables and doing a monologue on the ontology of being a non-body, speculating in a very formal manner on killing the audience as a gesture of generosity. I heard later that a couple of people had to spit out their wine during the piece because it was such an abrupt shift. Fun stuff! I thought it turned out great, not just because the performance maxed out on its unnerving effect on the audience, but because it hopefully allowed someone at the lunch to re-orient themselves on what constitutes art in an art school setting.
– Are you currently working on any performance?
I'm in the middle of research, kind of pre-project mode. I'm not sure whether it'll pan out as a performance piece, theatre or something more discursive. I'm trying to process and work with notions of solidarity, empathy, low frequencies and the body as flesh, something animated versus an uncanny ragdoll.
– What advice would you give to someone who is interested in working with performance?
I think every practice in performance art starts out kinda clunky, queasy or whatever. And that's a good thing. If it still felt sooo worth it, despite of being rough, then it's a good idea to keep working! I talked to someone recently who started on the topic that a lot of performance art is kinda bad. And I don't entirely disagree, but it's also the nature of it. The stuff I've seen in performance pieces is the type of things that would otherwise (both in and out of art environments) never be acceptable and looked at as 'amateurish', 'nonsense', 'sentimental', 'awkward' etc. etc. So in my opinion, I would just say go and try it because there aren't a ton of hurdles. The only scary thing about it is that you're doing it in front of an audience, really - but some of us like that.
– Can you give us a few names of performance artists who inspire you?
Pope.L, Ana Mendieta, Iain White, Chantal Akerman, Jimmy Robert, Steve Reinke, Diamanda Galas, the writings of Chris Kraus. And some locals: Sara Baban, Elina Waage Mikalsen and Hanna Asefaw + probably more - I'm continuously inspired by and appreciative of what they do!
