Desert Walker

Motherboard presented its work with Desert Walker the following way, in the program of Black Box Teater (translated by Sceneweb's Lillian Bikset):

"On a stage stretching longer than the eye can see, four solo walkers performed a serial choreography. For more than ten hours they walked, in silence and without bending, along the sides and over the diagonals of an area whose size stretches over more than 160.000 square meters. They started from each their corner at various cyclic times with simple instruction, attempting to keep up a precise synchronicity in time and room for the duration of the performance.

Just the sounds of the desert and the crunch of salt underneath their feet accompanied them. The performance was documented on video from several determined and roaming perspectives.

It may seem simple on the surface - but what happens when one for the first time throws four performers whose backgrounds are widely dissimilar together to fulfil the project? To which degree does the video documentation affect the experience of the performance? At what point crosses Desert Walker the borders between performance and Land Art? And what is left when one stops walking?"

During the presentation at Black Box Teater the story of Desert Walker was told in different manners, including a mini version of the choreography, video and photo material, conversation and discussion, in which all the participators in the project took part.

The project was supported by Arts Council Norway and CLUI (Centre for Land Use Interpretation).

Sources: Wegge, Sara, Julie Rongved Amundsen, Marianne Dyrnes Vallat and Kristian Seltun (ed.) (2008). Article titled På Ørkenvandring* (Wandering in the desert). Black Box Teater’s program the autumn of 2008.

*Not yet translated into English. The title within parentheses is the Norwegian title's literal meaning.