Phosphor
The Magic of Nature

Anna Rosa Hiort-Lorenzen & Kasper Daugaard Poulsen

[Phosphor is a substance that exhibits the phenomenon of luminescence: i.e. giving off visible light through the effect of electrons, ultraviolet light or shortwave visible light.]

Natural phenomena translated into fabric and movement
In 2013, the textile artist, Anna Rosa Hiort-Lorenzen and the choreographer, Kasper Daugaard Poulsen visited the Icelandic fishing village of Skagaströnd, located just south of the Arctic Circle. The winter landscape here consists of snow and mountains and a fascinating shift in the light, when the sun’s rays hit the clouds from below. The sun rises at 12.00 noon and sets at 4.00 pm, but because it never rises very much above the horizon, the sky is illuminated from below. The sun rises with pale, light colours and sets with shades of dark red and purple.

“The nights in Skagaströnd are incredibly beautiful. Stars cover the sky and it feels as if you’re standing on top of the world under a celestial sphere. On clear nights you get the Northern Lights, which coalesce and spread as moving formations across the night sky.

“We explored the surroundings in search of motifs for our work. Skagaströnd is a fishing village. So one of the patterns in the exhibition was inspired by fish bones, which we found on the beach. In winter the vegetation is sparse: moss and other types of grass. This provided inspiration for other patterns.”

These experiences of the nature of the far north have been assembled and translated into textiles, patterns, images and movement: motifs from the village, shifting light and the dark, glowing night.

A walk in light and darkness
The exhibition alternates between light and darkness. This is not only a simple dramatic statement, but also a precondition for working with the phosphorescent colours, with which the textiles have been printed. The colour requires light to become charged and dark, in which to glow. There is almost no other region in the world, which is characterised so vividly by the shift from continuous light to complete darkness as the countries of the North Atlantic. So planning and staging the exhibition as a constant alternation between light and darkness represent both a necessity and a statement.

Music: Kristian Hverring
Lighting: Morten Ladefoged