Where stones weep and bones whisper

BODIES OF EXTRACTION

Ann Edvartsen Hay

Master in Medium- and Material based Art
Oslo National Academy of the Arts
2023 – 2025

Bodies of Extraction is an artistic research project that resurfaces the history related to exploitation of Knaben during its occupation during World War II, when production was accelerated due to high demand of the mineral molybdenite. The project invites reflection on reasons for violence on material and living bodies through the forces of power, and to explore the historical impact that will continue to echo into the future, in the landscape and transformation. More importantly, the project is intended to open a discourse on the emotional distance from violence on both humans and the landscape seen in media and photography.

By revisiting an occupational past related to mineral extraction located in Norway, the project evokes relation through its proximity of the horrors caused by inflicting pain through authority and violence. It accentuates the exploitation of the environment and of human labour.

Grounding the project on a specific site of focused national location enables relatability through familiarity through individual stories of the people who lived and experienced heavy labour and grief of losing their family to illnesses and accidents. The archival approach of this project narrows the focus on individual experiences, becoming particularly important as records under war become desensitised under the pretext of, images, data and large numbers. The distance not being only physically removed, but emotionally.

The project is intended to activate a reflection on how art with science and archives can mediate a reflection on why connecting empathy and awareness regarding the impacts of violence in the ontological sense are arguably relevant to contemporary discussions of human conflict. It encourages to challenge the thoughts on the ethical implications of resource extraction, bodily labour, pollution, and the acceleration of technology spurred by war–encouraging reflection on how these themes resonate with the perpetual conflicts worldwide.

Material exploration of artifically produced metals; molybdenum from the mineral molybdenite, and steel from iron and carbon. When merged, the steel became important to military superiority, resulting in strong, durable steel made for armored tanks and artillery.

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Fragment no. 5