Henrik Nordahl

My thesis project consists of two large abstract sound sculptures made of drywall paper tape rolls, extended like telescopes in the shape of horns. They resemble familiar patterns and objects: shells, horns, snakeskin, wood carvings, stalactites, enlarged images of microorganisms. It’s as though you are staring at a vast dictionary with bits of patterns and structures instead of words. The horns' shape invites associations with sound, reinforced by sounds emitted by speakers incorporated into the sculptures. They send forth subtle, deep pulsations that are hard to recognize unless you stand near the openings of the horns. Rather than imposing my will on the material, I allowed the process of creation to be led by chance and coincidence. I was inspired by processes in nature in which matter is exposed to the environment over time, leading to deterioration, decay, and decomposition, the breaking off of fragments and their aggregation into new forms. Hidden in the layers of sediment beneath our feet are layers of history, which we have found ways to interpret. What other tales are concealed in the rough edges of a snake’s skin or the structure of a sea shell? This is a question I have sought to answer with the guidance of philosophers like Gilles Deleuze, Michel Foucault, and Jane Bennett and the mathematician Benoit Mandelbrot, father of fractals, “the geometry of nature.” henriknordahl.com