If you want to know what is buzzing in Stokkoya, just head to the late-morning chatter at Coop at 11AM. The back room is where people drop by, making it the perfect spot to listen in. This is where our project started. Conversations jump from electricity prices to ferry connections before the bridges were built.

Two paths run in parallel at the beginning of the creative process. One is gathering and processing local information, the other is weaving the participating artists’ methods into a single organism, where everyone trusts each other and each artist’ practice expands through collaboration.

Whenever there was a party on one island, people would row across the water to take part, and when the festivities shifted to the other side, the boats would once again glide back and forth. These gatherings brought everyone together – age and generation made no difference. In 1958, the first ferry was introduced, linking the two islands with the mainland. Today there are bridges between the islands and the main land. These stories stuck with us and we began thinking about the time and the pace before the bridges were built.

Thoughts of coexistence led us to an interest in knock-on effects, impacts, chains, sequences, signals and receivers - how stuff gets around.

With dark winters and bright summers, local routines and livelihoods are directly shaped by light, its effect is binding; a force felt by everyone here. Light, the sea, and a sense of longing seem naturally connected. We felt our link to the larger universe when we climbed the mountain and sat in silence watching the lunar eclipse, or when we stayed up at night to see the northern lights.

LIght travels, it signals, it keeps us warm, it brings us together.