Silencing of the reefs forject in collaboration with TBA21 Academy. Recorded in Greenland, Belize, Dominican republic 2007, 2012 and 2013.

freeze to melt

Jana Reeffish02

It is very difficult to tell the difference between common and grey seals. The main thing to look for is the shape of the head – common seals have a more rounded head, whereas the head of the grey seal is more oval, with the characteristic sloping ‘Roman nose’ profile. A party of grey seals can be recognised by the utterance of barking, moaning, hissing and snarling noises.

Grey Seal Halichoerus grypus

Dear listener. Here you can listen to a dawn chorus from the gorgeous, green, and from ancient times holy valley of Bessaker. What you hear is the morning chorus of the birds accompanied by the eerie sound and feel of the windmills hovering over the valley on top of the mountains. These windmills are amongst the many on Fosen/Fovsen, which is also Åarjelsamien land / South Sámi land. This was recorded on a normal windy day. The noise at one point depends on the direction and strength of the wind. It is impossible to understand the noise level as you need to be physically there to experience it as it really affects your whole body. Without exaggeration, I would say it gave me a headache and I could sense some deep sub-bass frequencies too. If it´s uncomfortable to humans surely animals avoid it. We were maybe as much as several km from the windmill at this point. So it can be heard far down to the little coastal town of Bessaker on certain days.

Windmill noise in the holy Bessaker valley on Fovsen/Fosen

Plantesanger * Sjædtoej laavloeh * Plantsongs (2022)

This is a 2 channel downmix of a complex eight-channel work.
A dedicated stereo mix of the work will replace this file in the autumn of 2024.

Plantesanger * Sjædtoej laavloeh * Plantsongs is an eight-channel soundwork and installation

Plantsongs - Plantesanger - Sjædtoej laavloeh was initiated by Elin Már Øyen Vister with Heiða Karine Jóhannesdóttir Mobeck, and was created in collaboration with co-composers and musicians Natali Abrahamsen Garner, Erik Lukashaugen, Risten Anine Gaup, Lars Ove Fossheim and Håvard Aufles.
It was first presented at Trondheim Kunsthall (Trondheim/Tråante, NO/Saepmi) as part of the "Kunna Guanna Concha" exhibition, 2022/2023.

Documentation and complete credits of the work can be found here:

www.elinmar.com/plantesanger-plantsongs-sjaedtoej-laavloeh/

Plantsongs - Plantesanger - Sjædtoej laavloeh

Kittiwakes of Vishellern, Vedøya

Since this recording was made in the Visheller cave in the summer of 2011, the decline in the seabird population on Røst has escalated. During the summer of 2020 the bird mountain of Vedøya, including all the Kittiwakes breeding in the Vishellern cave, was gone.

Here is a small excerpt of a recording I did overnight at the bottom of the cave in 2011. The sonic sensation of a flock of Kittiwakes flying out of the cave and over you is one of the strongest and most mesmerizing sound memories I have experienced. To know that this sonic experience is now lost, is utterly tragic.

Statistically speaking there are no more Kittiwakes and Guillemot breeding on Vedøya. In 1980 there were approximately 1.5 million pairs of Puffins breeding in all of the Røst archipelago and on Vedøya only, 12000 pairs of Guillemots and 25.000 pairs of Kittiwakes. Nowadays, the overall Puffin population is down to around 200.000 pairs and the few Guillemots left are hiding in small caves and crevices. The last Kittiwakes of Røst is now clinging on in Kårøya and the little birdmountain of Gjellfruvær. If the decline continues, there will be no auks, guillemots or Puffins left on Røst in the end of 2030s or earlier.

Vedøya is the most famous of the bird mountains in the Røst archipelago. No more than thirty years ago there were more than 20000 pairs of Kittiwakes and 12000 Guillemots nesting in the steep cliffs of Vedøya. The soundscape was so loud it could be heard on the neighboring islands. In late March of 2010, I experienced a vague shadow of what it must have sounded like back then when a white cloud of elegant Littiwakes vocalized and moved in and out of the bird cliffs simultaneously. Today there are only a few thousand pairs of Kittiwake pairs left on Kårøya and Gjellfruvær, and the Kittiwakes are listed on the Norwegian red list as critically threatened.

The Lost Kittiwakes of the Vishellarn cave on Vedøya, Røst (NO / Sábme)

Hierggenjárgga/Härrgenjárrga substas * Hernes forteller

Det eksperimentelle hørespillet Hierggenjárga/Härrgenárga substas – Hernes forteller gir lyttere et knippe bruddstykker av livets gang fra fortid, nåtid og fremtid, og er en sonisk fortelling om natur-kultur i evig samspill på Hierggenjárgga/Härrgenjárrga/Hernes. Verket utfordrer dominant historieskriving ved å gi plass til spekulative koblinger, andre arters stemmer og intergenerasjonell kunnskap om et spesifikt sted. Hvilken makt ligger i å eie en historie, og hvordan kan landskapet høres annerledes ut om man lytter dypere?

Vipa/Vuopptaláful, som historisk har hekka på Hernes-myra, er en av artene vi møter i verket. Vipa forsvinner fra kulturlandskapet når myrer og våtmark dreneres og bygges ut og er en kritisk truet art. Når landet står overfor en klimakrise og der tap av biomangfold er nært knytta til nedbygging av natur, er det viktigere enn noen gang å sørge for at vipa /Vuopptaláfu l og andre sårbare arter har et vernet hekke – og leve område. 

Lydverket og tilhørende plakater handler om å knytte oss til nærområdene vi bor i og lever igjennom ulike handlinger. En av disse er å grave fram fortellinger om samiske eierskap til Bodø/Bådåddjo/Buvvda-halvøya som har både kyst-, pite-, og lulesamisk opphav, å lytte til intergenerasjonell kunnskap og ikke ta gammel historieskrivning for gitt. Dette arbeidet har foregått gjennom samarbeid og samtaler med bla. lulesamisk kunnskapsbærere Andrine Øvervoll Eivik, Heidi Birgitta Andersen og Eivind Langåsen.

«Som kunstner født sørpå bosatt i Sábme/Nord-Norge er jeg spesielt opptatt av å anerkjenne de samiske og den flerkulturelle befolkninga i Salten og Lofoten/ Lofuohta Det å kunne lytte ydmykt, få kunnskap der man mangler det, gi ressurser og skape dialog, er det vi sammen trenger for en god byutvikling og for en mulig framtidig forsoning.» - Elin Már Øyen Vister


Medvirkende:
Anne-Marie Austad, biolog/rådgiver, Dokkadeltaet
Barn fra Jentoftsletta barnehage, lulesamisk avdeling
Jan Wasmuth, økolog
Per Arne Mikalsen, arbeidsleder flyside

Fortellerstemmer:
Andrine Øvervoll Eivik
Anne-Cecilie Pedersen
Heidi Birgitta Andersen
Ken-Philippe Tete
Sander Andersen

Musikk, vuolle, lyd, stemmer:
Andreas Mjøs, opptak forteller stemme, miks og mastring
Barn ved Jentofsletta barnehage, lulesamisk avdeling
Elin Már Øyen Vister, komposisjon, feltopptak, klipp, diverse opptak
Heidi Birgitta Andersen, Haŋŋá, vuolle
Julia Karen Olea Paulsen, Haŋŋá, vuolle
Ola Høyer, kontrabass
Robert Jønnum, innspilling og råmiks av kontrabass
Robin Støckert / Soundscape studios – teknisk system, lydinstallasjon
Trygve Misvær, Burddogájjse – Børvasstindan´s vuolle (acapella)

Verket inneholder også:
Haŋŋá, Havellas vuelie /joik, i form av kontrabass improvisasjoner av Ola Høyer
Susanne Lundeng – Havella (Drag, 1994)
Vegard Øyen – Ærfugldun in My duvet (Piano Waltzes in Major, 2021)

Research samtaler:
Andrine Øvervoll Eivik, lulesamisk språkarbeider og kunnskapsbærer
Arne Håkon Thomassen, seniorarkeolog Sámediggi/Sametinget, Ájluokta/Drag
Bodø Kommune v. Ingrid Agathe Bay-Larsen og Kristoffer Larsen Seivåg
Finn Myrvang, filolog emeritus
Heidi Birgitta Andersen, lulesamisk språkarbeider og kunnskapsbærer
Jan Wasmuth, økolog
Mats Jonas Pavall, reindriftsutøver
Per Arne Mikalsen, Avinor
Rune Nakstad, Advansia (for Avinor)
Sander Andersen, lulesamisk språkarbeider og gammebygger
Torgeir Nordkild Svonni, stipendiat arkeologi, UIT

Tekst:
Andrine Øvervoll Eivik, «Gievras», redigert av Elin Már og Heidi Birgitta Andersen
Gievras er oversatt til lulesamisk av Heidi Birgitta Andersen
Ingvild Austgulen, slampoesi til Hernes/Hierggenjárgga
Utdrag fra litteratur om landskapet, avisutklipp, arkeologiske rapporter ol.

Hierggenjárgga, Härrgenjárrga substas - Hernes forteller, Kap.1

Hierggenjárgga, Härrgenjárrga substas - Hernes forteller,  Kap 2

In the six-minute track “Ingá-Elektra,” Norwegian artist Charlotte Bendiks masterfully weaves ancient and repetitive forms into a hypnotic, atmospheric soundscape that feels both sci-fi and shamanic. She is joined by Horatiu Serbanescu, aka Plevna, who creates melodies from the rich traditions of manele—a genre blending Balkan, Turkish, Arabic, Romani, and Greek influences. “Ingá-Elektra” is named after my daughter and has a double-barrelled meaning; Ingá comes from her Sámi grandmother of the same name and Elektra references the Greek word ēlektēr (ἠλέκτωρ _or ἠλέκτρα), which means ‘radiant’ and ‘shining’. It also happens to be one of the brightest stars within the Pleiades star cluster, otherwise known as the Seven Sisters constellation. The track that emerged from these references carries a deeply collaborative spirit—one rooted in bridging cultural traditions, breaking geographic boundaries, and communal joy. When I listen, I feel radiance and resistance that is sent out across time and space. Just as stars take light years to reach us, the transmission of music endures long after its creation. These sonic echoes are an homage: to Ingá-Elektra, to Ima Flora, to all daughters, to all sisters, to the generation poised to inherit this complicated, collapsing world. Like the transformative energy of a star’s death, may we break open the current order and breathe life into building a new one. —Tanya Busse
 

Inga Elektra

Vedøya, Bunesbukta, May 2015

Tirenopptak

SA.PPRfjelldialog

Artist, poet, composer land/water defender Elin Már Øyen Vister´s sonic output. 

Leynar recordings is dedicated to releasing a pluriverse of queer, sonic, joy, soundscape compositions, experimental music and audio vibrations in all shapes and styles for the unforseable future. 

Leynar is dedicated to superb audio quality, and even more importantly; to quality over quantity. We strive to creating art that the earth can sustain healthily.

Leynar Recordings takes a critical look at the imperialist and colonial heritage in the historical field of recording and acknowledges that the recordings I do/have done, belong to the land /sea and peoples where I record, which is mainly on Røst, in Lofoten/Lofuohtta, traditional Séa Sámi land.

Vedøya, Bunesbukta, May 2015

Elin Már (0 v 0) Leynar Recordings

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