Verde Lapponia (2023) by Marit Følstad
The work Verde Lapponia was part of the site-specific installation exhibition NONSITE by Marit Følstad and Ole Jørgen Ness, shown at Bomuldsfabriken Kunsthall in 2022/2023. After the exhibition, the work was donated to the art hall as a memorial to its former director, Harald Solberg (1954–2020).
Verde Lapponia is Latin for “Green Lapland” and refers to the material Masi quartzite. This metamorphic rock is around 1.5 billion years old and is found only in Kautokeino in Northern Norway. It is extracted on the Finnmarksvidda plateau during the summer season, primarily from June to November. In the winter months, the area is protected as winter grazing land for reindeer. The stone has a characteristic, almost cloud-like folding pattern, primarily in green and white, with occasional touches of pink. Its play of colour may evoke associations with the northern lights — the sculpture brings the Arctic light and colours from the quarry in the north to Torbjørnsbu gruve in the south.
Masi quartzite is mainly used in exclusive interiors with highly polished surfaces and is a relatively costly stone. Følstad, however, is primarily concerned with what the stone can do “naturally” — its own character, the colour spectrum of the rock and the story it carries with it. Most of Følstad’s art projects are therefore made from “residual material” from the quarry, an artistic choice that draws attention to how humans exploit nature to satisfy their own needs and desires. An alternative attitude can be found in ecophilosophy, where nature is assigned an intrinsic value beyond its usefulness to humans. The idea that all things are connected in a form of consciousness obliges us to meet nature with humility and respect — an attitude reflected in Følstad’s artistic process, where it is just as important to understand what the material wants from us as what we want from the material.
Marit Følstad (b. 1969, Tromsø) lives and works in Oslo. She studied Time Arts at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, USA, and Fine Art at the Glasgow School of Art, Scotland.
