Lineage
(2020)
author(s): Otto Ramstad
published in: VIS - Nordic Journal for Artistic Research
The project Lineage draws lines between the learning practices of experimental dance and somatic work, and personal ‘artistic genealogy’. ‘Artistic genealogy’ is a creative process Ramstad has been using to build relationships to his Norwegian ancestors and the land they inhabited and about which he knew very little. Lineage strings together these seemingly separate ways of gaining knowledge: official archives and private stories, his archive of somatic approaches and attempts to research land somatically – to think about what it was like to live in a body in rural Norway 100 years ago and ask how this affects how we are living in our bodies now. This exposition reflects a project that includes a video installation, a studio practice, and a performance which uses his archive of videos, stories, and movement. Here he shares thoughts about how we care for and engage in our personal histories and
how this engagement changes how we are living in our bodies now.
In this exposition you will see or hear the following people, listed in their order of appearance: Otto Ramstad, Lisa Nelson, Maura Gahan, Margit Galanter, Kristin Van Loon, Steve Paxton, Emmett Ramstad, Hans Steinar Gjerdet, Carle Lange, Olive Bieringa, Uma Rabbit Bieringa Ramstad, Andrea Parkins.
