ÓRÓI
An Ode to The Wind
ÓRÓI is an additive for houses for a future scenario where human change their perspective on nature and focus more on natural elements. In this project the relation of wind and sea would be given special attention. The Órói gives the wind a place to play in the urban environment to remind it of the place it comes from - the sea.
To kick off the project a poetic story about the wind and its origin was written by the artists. It was the starting point of the further research and the object which was designed later. In the further process a model of the objects and illustrations were created to visualise the concept.
This project forms part of the exchange project between the art academies of Reykjavik, The Hague and Berlin. Within the time period of one week the group of students worked on a project related to the north sea next to excursions and studio visits.
Órói
My first memory is me blowing over the ripples. The world was my playground. The salt twirling in the air was making it a challenge to blow over the fluid. I remember the strength I gained. Each time I returned to it I had better control over the hills I shaped. The sound of the trees made me sleepy when I blew through them. The rough corners of tall cliffs scared me in my younger years. But with each trip, up and down the hills, they got to know me, gave me space, helped me carve them like a chisel shapes a stone. I traveled past endless meadows and valleys. Blew past big creatures, tickled them. My mood changed day by day back then, but not as much as it does today. Back then I used the waves and forests to calm me, I could trust them, I knew them by heart, they respected me like my friends.
When I returned to the meadows and valleys where I used to play when I was small, where I learned how to fly, where I smelled the blossom of the flowers for the first time, I could not recognise the landscape from afar. Instead of the smooth curves between the sea level, on the hills and mountains I notice straight edges, corners and sharp peaks clustered in groups. The whole vastness was covered with a net of gray silhouettes. I was surprised, I’ve never seen it before. I was excited to experience something new, there was no fear and I went faster.Suddenly I bumped into something, struggling to slide around. The continuous movement didn’t let me go further, and I froze for a while. But I slowly went further and I felt something incredibly unpleasant, hurting here and there. Each next meter took more energy, I had to squeeze and shrink, however it didn’t help me to move smoothly avoiding the kicking corners. I couldn’t stand it anymore and my whole being got full of tears.
Nowadays I feel the freedom back in my lungs. The corners and edges that hurt me before adapt to my command as I stretch my breath across the scenery. I feel the tension as I leave my imprints on the ruins. The arches and curves I leave when walking the surface feel like the place I come from. I tug, pull and embrace the landscape and force it to bend to my will. It is a time I never want to return to. The rhythm I create is different than before, where I was being held back by a different force. I will always continue to shape the mountains of the fluid element that surround my home. A long time ago I abandoned my tears to crash against the rocks.
The mobile is placed on skyscrapers to ensure it cannot be accessed by humans. The initial object is round, and by time the wind can form it, which is due to the material. It is made from sea stone, which is a concrete like material consisting of shells from the ocean.
The table on the right shows the elements included in the playground. They would be placed in the holes of the object for the wind to pass through and remind it of the sea.
The sound of the waves is created by plastic strips that sound when the wind passes them. On top of Óroi there is a rain water puddle, which feeds salt crystals constantly with liquid to create salt water for the wind to toy with.
The name of the object - Órói - is Icelandic and can stand for either a childs mobile or restlessness.
The above shown process of carving will take place throughout a lot of years. It shows the different time frame the wind lives in and poses questions about how perceive humans this time. The picture on the left side shows the object in its initial human made state and the others show the process of how the wind would carve it.
