Artist In Residence - Agder Kunstsenter

Each day in Kristiansand I searched the ground for fallen branches (gifts from the trees); these scavenged limbs are perfectly scaled to a USB. Once collected, each limb-end was hand-carved into a USB. The USB is a stand-in for connectivity and memory, both celebrating and cautioning our complex relationship with technology. USBs are used primarily for memory storage, and it is here where they have the most in common with trees; trees preserve memories too, in their inner rings. It’s really common for trees to keep a record of past environmental stresses: things like forest fires, floods, or insect attacks. Tree rings have become an important source of knowledge when tracking human-made changes to the environment. These wooden USBs aim to evoke such memories and raise (at least momentarily) a greater awareness of the relationship between nature and technology. At the end of my month-long residency, I distributed the USB memory sticks back into the environment where they belong; I anticipate them being ‘happened upon’ by local passersby and perhaps mystifying or amusing the Norwegian community, offering a moment for contemplation and reflection.