Rekonstruksjoner Production

When I was at my best at Sjølingstad while working there in 2001 and 2002, I could have three procedures going on at the same time. The timing and development of one process was present in my body when I was in another. When I immersed myself in the work in this way I knew when I had to move between the machines.

Repetition and movement being remembered. It is healthy. It makes sense. It satisfies a fundamental need I have. Hard, heavy and concentrated work in the workshop. The body remembers. Rhythm, repetition, weight, noise, smell. Vigilance and alertness with tension in muscles when I did not trust the machine. Flow. Energy. Movements around and with the machines. Spaces, staircases, doors, the complex rhythm when several processes become one.

When I returned to Sjølingstad for Rekonstruksjoner in 2009 after seven years, I worked on the same processes again. I felt how strongly the physical surroundings, the machines and the procedures were imprinted in me. When I was decatising, my body guided me from place to place around the machine. Without me remembering why, it wanted to go left, and I found myself in front of the crane that opened for the steam supply. Just the one I needed. And so on. The experience confirmed the connection to the place. To the work.

One of the heaviest procedures at Sjølingstad is to move a length of fabric from the dye bath onto a trolley and then to pack it in the centrifuge. It could be 40 metres, of wet, heavy, hot, thick cloth. After long days dyeing, I was physically tired. I became strong when working at the factory. The resistance triggered me.