Bendik Prestegård Vatne

What did you want to explore?

Stories are usually written on paper and I wanted to place them in a new context, a new scene, a new space. I wanted to create an experience where the audience is enveloped by the story by entering a room where it takes place around them. I illustrate stories in a three-dimensional form. Filling a dark room with a storyteller's voice played through speakers and accompanied by paper sculptures. The paper sculptures are illuminated by light sources that are programmed to follow the course of the story. It lights up, becomes visible and then fades. This creates interaction between the story and the visual material. At the same time, I hope that people experience the room as being more vivid. Light and sound help the audience navigate their way through the story and the room, creating movement and focus.

How have you experienced the process?

My process is characterized by a tangible approach, the material leads the way and good ideas come to light as I explore the material's possibilities and limitations. The paper is the main material in the project and is the starting point regarding the visual exploration. The paper is easily adaptable and allows for a process where ideas can quickly become prototypes and be tested through three-dimensional paper models. I started to explore my research question at an early stage through practical testing at exhibitions. I have collaborated with the author Maria Dahl and the musician Dávid Mágyel at these exhibitions. Maria has written the texts that have been the starting point for the storytelling. She has been my discussion partner and Dávid has composed a soundscape around the narration and dramatization of the story. After each exhibition, I have received feedback and made observations that have been important regarding the further development of the project.

What has this resulted in?

The final result of the Master’s project has been two exhibitions. The Lighthouse Keeper was the first, and was shown at Bergen Public Library in November 2018. This is the second exhibition, built around the text ‘When mother went to sea’. When Mary wrote the lyrics, she quickly decided that there should be a role reversal here. The mother should be at sea working, while the father wanted to stay at home with his son and especially his garden, which plays a central role in this text. However, this role reversal isn’t what the story is all about.  What is it about? Someone who waits in a garden, someone who travels at sea. Someone who likes to stay where they are, someone who wants to leave and experience the world... A married couple, a mother and a father. There's something about longing here. A longing for a mother, a mother who always longs to travel. While working with the visual, I attached myself to the garden and the changing seasons, which is a common theme throughout the story. Coloured lights mark changes in the story, creating drama. Along with the geometric and organic paper sculptures, the light creates the garden where the story takes place.

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