Maia Urstad (b. 1954, Bergen) works at the intersection between sound art and visual art, and has been a central figure in the field of sound art in Norway for a number of years. Urstad has the whole world as its area of impact, and collects and processes sounds from a wide range of sounds: taxi radios in Buenos Aires, calls to prayer in Ramallah, street protests in Santiago de Chile, wind on the Westland islands and the Oslo tram. Through site-specific art projects, radio installations and other sound works, she sends signals out into the world and draws lines both backwards in history and forwards in time.
For Kunstnernes Hus, the artist will create a monumental sound installation with over a hundred speakers. The installation is based on our urban soundscape where electronic warning sounds and information from voice over loudspeakers in public spaces play a significant role. The work provides an aural cross-section of the invisible communication that takes place in the various layers of our radio spectrum, from below sea level, via ground level and our own daily surroundings, to far up in the universe. The exhibition reflects on the technological development and the sound traces and stories we leave behind.
