Labyrinthic Explanation of Knowledge
Sound installation by Ewa Jacobsson and Hilde Marie Holsen
Showings and tickets
Showings and tickets
Saturday, 13/09
Sunday, 14/09
Tuesday, 16/09
Wednesday, 17/09
Thursday, 18/09
Friday, 19/09
Saturday, 20/09
A sonic, visual and tactile response to the knowledge that shapes — and excludes — the world.
For over forty years, composer and sound artist Ewa Jacobsson has assembled a growing archive of found objects, sounds, and fragments. This archive is not organised by theme or chronology, but has developed slowly, often intuitively. Some elements recur across works; others remain dormant for years before finding their place.
Each element carries its own presence and history. A pearl might suggest an ornament, but also patience, repetition, and care. A piece of rubbish might bear traces of someone’s gesture. Sweet marzipan shaped into odd forms and coated in poisonous paint; decorative fragments that unsettle rather than soothe. The materials are not symbolic. They are chosen for how they feel, what they do, how they sound, and how they carry time.
In this installation, the archive is activated through sound. Each object contains a small speaker and becomes part of a circuit where audio signals travel between objects without a fixed beginning or end. Some emit sound, others relay it.
At the centre of this shifting system is Hilde Marie Holsen, Jacobsson’s long-term collaborator, who co-composes the work by contributing acoustic and electronically processed trumpet sounds. Her sonic language is woven into the circuit, along with recordings by Ensemble Contrechamps. Their material moves between objects during the installation, forming new connections.
The work responds to a time of rigid validation systems by embracing slower, quieter methods. It suggests that knowledge can also emerge from what is small, overlooked, or felt rather than proven.
Facts
- In today’s information society, knowledge is often equated with what can be measured, proven, and classified – a logic that shapes education, governance, and human relations. This rational way of organising knowledge is not new: since the Enlightenment, we have named, categorised, and mapped the world.
- The installation will be activated in a live performance with Jacobsson, Holsen and Ensemble Contrechamps on 13 September as part of the concert The Question of Knowing.
- This commission is part of Henie Onstad + Ultima: Listening to the Legacy, a multi-year collaboration between Henie Onstad and Ultima (2024–2026), supported by Sparebankstiftelsen DNB. The project aims to revitalise the musical legacy of the Henie Onstad Art Center through concerts, commissions, and events that connect people, architecture, nature, and music.
Installation collage. Photo: Ewa Jacobsson and Anna Lerheim Ask
Ewa Jacobsson. Photo: Anna Lerheim Ask
Hilde Marie Holsen. Photo: Julie Hrncirova
Ensemble Contrechamps. Photo: Regis Golay
Concept and composition
- Ewa Jacobsson
- Hilde Marie Holsen
- Ensemble Contrechamps, as guests
Lighting design
- Gunnva Meinseth
In collaboration with
- NOTAM, Norwegian Centre for Technology, Art and Music
- Henie Onstad Kunstsenter
Supported by
- Pro Helvetia
- Arts Council Norway
- Sparebankstiftelsen DNB as part of Henie Onstad + Ultima: Listening to the Legacy
