Based within the depths of the Arctic circle it can be hard to find the materials that you want; the basic necessities that once made up your artistic practice are unavailable.
Since moving to Tromsø, Norway in 2020 Anna has had to shape her artistic practice depending on what she has available within the area.
Like in any city, each day local institutions and business receive an abundant supply of the latest news through there letter boxes, a lot of which goes unread and thrown away.
By collecting these newsprints Anna has been able to turn them into paper pulp. A basic recipe consisting of shredded and watered down newsprint, then drained, flour added as a binding agent, shaped and sculpted to your desire and finally dried. The outcome being a hard and durable surface, similar to that of a rock.
This process has been used by Anna in a series of untitled works spanning from early 2020 until the present day, based upon domestic objects. Functional art that gives her and hopefully other people the answers to minute domestic issues. To turn change in our attitudes towards ways of living depending on specific materials and techniques.
Heavily inspired by rock chewers or specifically Pyornkrachzark, a character from The Neverending Story (1984) by German author Michael Ende. A character not only made from rocks, but they use rocks for everything that they need and do. It has made Anna wonder as to why we can’t live as the rock chewers do, to build a domestic environment around ourselves in which we are solely depended upon a singular material.
Information submitted by the maker and edited by the Future Materials Bank.
Ingredients
Newsprint, flour, water.
Physical samples
0004-1, 0004-2
Accessible to visitors of the Future Materials Lab