Installation from the series FANGSTARKITEKTUR at the exhibition SUORGI / TREGREINER at Sámi Dáiddaguovddáš (Sami Center for Contemporary Art), 2022.
SUORGI was a group exhibition by the artist team Trond Ansten, Aslaug Magdalena Juliussen and Marita Isobel Solberg. The installation is 14m long and 4,5m tall.

Why harvest the wild chicks of the mountains today?
The grouse has always been a symbol of freedom and healthy wildlife in the north. It used to come in great numbers and we used to put a lot of effort into the harvest. It´s white wings embraces every soul close to nature, and it tastes like an explosion of wilderness.

In the project FANGSTARKITEKTUR (TRAPPING ARCHITECTURE), I work with metaphorical and architectural aspects in trapping installations, that are built into the landscape with native materials. Based on works from a snaring expedition to Øvre Dividal National Park in 2021, and cultural knowledge from the Nordic harvesting traditions, I created a larger installation that activated the entrance area at SDG.

Central to the work is the Y-log, a tree that splits naturally from the main log into two equal branches and forms a Y. Due to the shape and the reinforced fiber properties at the junction, Y-logs are used as a natural locking element in construction of houses and tools, fishing gear and traps both for birds and animals. In trapping facilities for grouse, the Y-log forms the central element, as the portal to which the snare leads. In Sami there is a specific word for such trees, they are called suorgi. In old times, snares were built not only for grouse, but also for catching wild reindeer and the sculpture at SDG has been scaled up to human size.

Photo: Kjell Ove Storvik

The exhibition SUORGI was supported by Kunstsentrene i Norge (KiN) & Billedkunstnernes Vederlagsfond (BKV)