Blikk (artwork)
Blikk is a Norwegian installation artwork first created in 1970 by artist, composer Sigurd Berge and poet Jan Erik Vold. After being recreated in 2022 by composer and curator it is now part of the permanent collection of the Norwegian National Museum.
About the work
Blikk is the first multimodal artwork in Norway and is also an example of early electronic literature. The artists referred to the work as a sensual and perceptual experiment resulting in a fusing of poetry, music and kinetic sculpture. Artist, composer Sigurd Berge and poet Jan Erik Vold were commissioned by the Henie Onstad Kunstsenter in 1969 to create a work using sound, light and motion.Irma Jæger's sculpture was the visual focus of the work. Five large metal frames formed cubes that move around a central hub. Transparent sheets with colourful geometric patterns were slotted into the frames, and lights shone through them causing colourful shadows to be cast on the ceiling and walls as the cubes move.
The soundscape combines poet Jan Erik Vold's voice, reading his poetry, with electro-acoustic compositions by composer Sigurd Berge. Berge combined synthetic sounds with recordings from nature and Vold's readings.
The installation is named for Vold's poem Blikket. Vold's reading of the poem provides part of the soundtrack for the exhibition. The poem only includes the five words BLIKKET DU FANGER IKKE MEG, which are moved around to form different meanings with each line of the poem:
BLIKKET DU FANGER IKKE MEGThe poem was originally conceptualised in 1964, inspired by Swedish concrete poetry. It was published in 1966 as Blikket, displaying various combinations of the words across 32 pages:
BLIKKET DU FANGER MEG IKKE
BLIKKET DU IKKE MEG FANGER