Day by day, step by step
A kind of blog...
A visitor at the workshop
April 22
Got visit at the workshop from photographer Erlend Daae. He took some portraits of me in work attire and made a short film about the process. It was a really nice visit!
Erlend Daaes website: erlenddaaephoto.wordpress.com
Erlend Daaes website: erlenddaaephoto.wordpress.com
Ronja Allum, Metal Jeweller from Erlend Daae on Vimeo.
Hands on - Hands off
Workshop in Bodø
March 15
The March 15 I headed towards Bodo to participate in the workshop Hands on- Hands off along with six other artists. Vegard Johannessen, Sigrid Høyforsslett Bjørbæk, Corey Pemberton, Anniina Tenno, glassblowers and Teresa Lewoc and Johannes Venmren Rygh who works with metal like me. Apprentice to Sigrid and Vegard, Maria was also a part of the team and photographer Aliona Pazdniakova documented the workshop in photos and film. Thanks everyone for a great and educational time!
The workshop was organized and held by the gang in Smia glass & metall: www.smiaglassogmetall.com
foto Aliona Pazdniakova
Hands on - Hands off from Aliona Pazdniakova on Vimeo.
I had planned a work in copper as my contribution to the workshop. Good ideas are one thing but it would be possible in practice? Would the way I wanted to combine glass and metal work at all?
The forms I work with here are forms I've worked with for a long time, it arises from a visit to Oxford University Museum of Natural History back in 2009 and they are essentially the space formed between the branches of an underwater plant I photographed there. Forms occurring by chance or by a kind of necessity has long fascinated me, such as the shape of a branch or the shape formed when a cup of coffee is spilled out, or like here the shape of a in between space and how these different forms work side by and form new patterns.
But first, the sawing of the copper plate.
The forms I work with here are forms I've worked with for a long time, it arises from a visit to Oxford University Museum of Natural History back in 2009 and they are essentially the space formed between the branches of an underwater plant I photographed there. Forms occurring by chance or by a kind of necessity has long fascinated me, such as the shape of a branch or the shape formed when a cup of coffee is spilled out, or like here the shape of a in between space and how these different forms work side by and form new patterns.
But first, the sawing of the copper plate.
Second round with the hammer at work.
First try with liquid glass.
The second try with liquid glass. Corey and Anniina in action
foto Aliona Pazdniakova
The workshop ended with an exhibition at the gallery Bruket where everyones works were exhibited. Here is Anniina infront of her work.
foto Aliona Pazdniakova
Teresa gave a brief introduction to the workshop and the exhibition :)
foto Aliona Pazdniakova
Exit in Black ended up beeing the title of my work. The title is taken from the music of the Polish composer Michal Lorenc.
foto Aliona Pazdniakova
foto Aliona Pazdniakova
Chim Chim Cher-ee
A thorough scrub was required after the day's work ... Nilfisk (cleaner) also needed a wash strangely enough.
Everything well that starts well...
Some protection had to be used and a headlamp. I got the job vacuuming, but it was so high up that Maylinn had to stand inside the chimney cap with me and actually lift up the vacuum cleaner to get the cord far enough up.
We also came to the conclusion that part of the chaos could be avoided if we made an effort to simply vacuum the chimney on the inside.
We desided to seal of the side pipe chimney to the smithy, but before the operation could start. Everything else had to be wrapped in plastic. The dust inside the chimney was very fine and would other wise get in everywhere.
At the workshop, we started the year with a reorganization and relocation.
2015 was preceded by the Scholarship exhibition at the City Hall Gallery. I showed the documentation on the installation The Room.
2014
Then came the winter to Blaker.
Purchased parts of a stone jewelery workshop. So now I have a some stones then.
The first machine to move in was this disc cutter. Sofia found it online and a dark and foggy night Mylinn and Sofia went to Brumunddal with trailer behind the vehicle to retrieve this wonder. The seller had assured us weighed somewhere between 80 and 100 kilograms. It does not ... It had to be lifted onto the trailer with a tractor. Back at Blaker I stood with my mother to help get it back down of the trailer. Somehow we managed an without crushing something vital. Now it stands in place, works it does too!
The first to move into the smithy was a two treestumps of large birch. Perhaps this tree saw the dawn fore the first time around 1808 when the Swedes came to visit. This is how it looked after I carved of the bark. After drying it should be a nice foundation for an anvil or similar.
The forge in September before we started working with it.
The Smithy at Blaker Fortress. A new building built in the same style as the old Artillery Building. Blaker Fortress housed a artes and craft teacher college later Akershus University College from 1917 until it moved out in 2003. The Smithy housed the schools metal workshops including (of course) a forge! In September me, Sofia Karyofilis and Maylinn Mollan together started to rent the room where the smithy is located, and the autumn was spent to finding and put in place what we need of machines for a flexible and diverse metal workshop.
The corner room before I moved all my stuff.
Blaker Fortress at Romerike. Here the Artillery building from 1740- 50. In May 2014 I got a studio here and moved into a corner room (top left window). Many artists have a workshop or studio at Blaker Fortress and we aim to establish several more workshops and a gallery eventually.