“Thought-provoking, engaging and visually striking. A clear signal work for Egersund city that improves the contact between the sea, the industry and the people who live along the coast ”. The jury behind the art project The Tidal Node is excited and happy to present the winners.

Studio ThinkingHand has submitted a proposal for a work consisting of 7 sculptural marine habitat discs, which will be placed in different locations in the sea around the amphidromic point (a zero point in the sea in relation to the tide) in collaboration with local divers and marine biologists. When the sea has left its mark on the discs, they are brought back up to land, sealed and put up in a landscape- and light installation at the harbour in Egersund, which is inspired by the design language of the amphidromic point. The artists have been to Egersund and established collaborations with local ocean experts and divers. It will be possible for the local population to follow the process and the creation of the work over the next couple of years. The work is illuminated at night and will provide a place for facilitating meetings and conversations in and around the surroundings.

“Studio ThinkingHand's proposal involves a process that is based on dialogue and several field trips to Egersund over the next few years, collaboration with local divers and marine biologists. The proposed artwork incorporates the possibility of fluidity - for the work to change and develop at the same time as it draws in a part of nature that we do not know very well. It is environmentally conscious and connects the sea, the city and the industry in a way that both marks the tidal node and that makes us question our connection and co-existing with nature ", says Ida Højgaard, curator of the art program The Tide is Changing and leader of the jury that has assessed the proposals.

In the spring of 2021, three Nordic artists were invited to come up with proposals to create an art project that can mark the amphidromic point in Egersund and the Magma UNESCO Global Geopark.

"In the competition, we emphasized that we wanted a work that could create a flexible and attractive meeting place that helps to create conversations around the unique landscape and harbour area in Egersund," says Ida Højgaard.

Studio Thinkinghand is an artistic duo formed by Rhoda Ting (b. 1985, AUS) and Mikkel Dahlin Bojesen (b. 1988, DK) currently based in Copenhagen, Denmark. The duo has founded a common artistic practice, as they share an interest in how we humans can renegotiate our simplified and alienated relationship with nature. As a kind of aesthetic researcher, they work in the cross-section between art and science, translating scientific research into tangible works of art and experimenting with expanding what can be understood as life and intelligence. The results are presented in sculptures, installations and performances that remind us that we humans are just one of many species on earth. Despite their young age, the duo has already exhibited several site-specific art projects in public spaces in Denmark, Germany and South Korea.

Now they are looking forward to starting the art project in Egersund.

The project has a financial framework of NOK 800,000. It is supported by KORO, the Nordic Culture Fund, Rogaland County Municipality and Eigersund Municipality.

Do you want to see the other proposals for the competition? Look here.

These artists were invited for the closed competition

• Studio Thinking Hand (AUS/DK)

• Magnhild Øen Nordahl (NO)

• Javier Barrios (guatemalsk/NO)

These are the jury members

• Ida Højgaard, curator and foreperson of the jury

• Anne Vigdis Ellingsen, Project owner and Managing Director, Eigersund Næring og Havn KF

• Juste Druskiniene, Advisor in business development, tourism and innovation, Eigersund Næring og Havn KF

• Karl Johan Olsen, Managing Director, Magma UNESCO Global Geopark

• Dag Kjetil Tonheim, Municipal Director of Planning, Eigersund Municipality

• Maiken Stene, Visual Artist, Managing Director, Velferden - Sokndal’s Scene for Contemporary Art

• Miriam Løyning, Visual Artisk

• June Stuen, Managing Director, Dalane Folkemuseum

• Kari Reianes Spangen, Managing Director of the Kulturhus, Eigersund Municipality